At the starting block he might not catch your attention. But half-way through and P Anilkumar is altogether a different person. From a casual runner in the army meets, he has flowered, under coach Balakrishnan in Bangalore, to become India's new-found sprinter of repute.

His ambitions are low, like winning a gold at Kathmandu in the September South Asian Federation Games. But he warns, ``that will be my beginning''.

Coach Balakrishnan, who hails from Kannur, says, ``Mark my words, this chap is going to make waves.'' And why not. He is a dual National record holder, with a consistent timing of 10.3s (100m) and 21.06s (200m).

Interestingly, the 25-year-old Junior Commissioned Officer with Madras Engineering Group, Bangalore, first concentrated on 400m hurdles as track queen PT Usha was his idol those days.

Ironically, he hardly participated in inter-universitymeets, and is yet to represent Kerala. Though he was in the National camp for the Asian Games, a back ache kept him away from Bangkok.

Technically, he has got a poor start off the blocks, but pulls away by 30-35m and is clear in the lead by 60m. Anil disclosed that after the injury forced break, last year, he recently started training in speed work and is to take full load.

His perseverance to win the SAF gold is only his immediate aim. From there on ... watch these columns.