Sable to recover in 1-2 weeks after suffering minor injury during Monaco DL, says coach Amrish Kumar

Seasoned Indian steeplechaser Avinash Sable sustained a minor injury due to a nasty fall during the Monaco Diamond League two days back, but he will be all right in quick time, his long-time coach Amrish Kumar said on Sunday.

Asian Games champion and national record holder Sable failed to finish the men’s 3000m steeplechase event on Friday as he fell during the water jump early in the race. He was seen clutching his lower thigh area just at the back of the knee as he left the race.

“Sable has suffered a minor injury around the knee. He will take rest and he should be all right in one or two weeks at the maximum. It is not much to worry about,” Amrish, who is with the Army Sports Institute in Pune, told PTI.

“He (Sable) was trying to protect the runner ahead of him and who just jumped over the water barrier. While doing that, he himself fell, this kind of things happen in a race,” he added.

The athlete ahead of him lost balance and went down, causing Sable to stumble as well.

It was Amrish who spotted Sable after he joined the Indian Army in 2012. Amrish made Sable shift to steeplechase from cross country run in 2017 and nurtured him into a top athlete..

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With just one point from three DL meetings this season, it will be difficult for the 30-year-old Sable to make it to the DL Finals on August 27-28 in Zurich, Switzerland.

Sable, whose national record stands at 8 minutes 09.91 seconds, finished 13th in the Xiamen DL on April 16, was eighth in Keqiao — also in China — before a DNF in Monaco on Friday.

The last DL meeting which has men’s 3000m steeplechase in the roster is in Brussels on August 22.

On Friday, the sports ministry has approved Sable’s training in Colorado Springs, USA, from July 15 to September 3 to prepare for the World Championships (September 13-21) in Tokyo, for which he has already qualified.