Anju begins her campaign in Moscow

New Delhi: World No. 4 Anju Bobby George starts her campaign at the World Indoor Athletics Championship in Moscow on Saturday after fine-tuning her technique to boost her chances of success at the elite event.

"I have worked on my rhythm and landing and they have improved since my last competition. I am happy with the situation now," Anju said.

She warmed up for the championship by claiming the gold medal at the Federation Cup here with a best effort of 6.47m but was not satisfied with her run-up and landing.

She reached the Russian capital a few days before her event and worked with her coach and husband Bobby George to rectify the minor lacunae in her technique.

"My training session has been going well even though I have not been jumping yet," Anju said.

This would be only the third indoor event for the Indian ace after the 2003 World Championship in Birmingham, where she finished seventh with a 6.40m national indoor record jump, and the Asian Indoor Championship earlier this year where she won the silver medal with a jump of 6.32m.

But she denied that her lack of experience indoors could be a factor in Moscow.

"It does not bother me too much. I am pretty confident of doing well," Anju said.

She mentioned world No. 1 Tatyana Kotova and Americans Tianna Madison and Grace Upshaw as her main competitors in Moscow.

The Russian has already jumped 6.91m in Stuttgart while Madison, the US Collegiate champion, has leaps of 6.75m and 6.55m to her credit.

Russian Indoor champion Oksana Udmurtova has cleared 6.77m at the Moscow Nationals.

Anju, who recorded her personal best of 6.83m at the 2004 Athens Olympics, would have to improve on her record this season to challenge for a medal in Russia.

She may have to jump close to 6.75m which brought her the silver medal at the World Athletics finals in Monaco last year.

Naide Gomes (Portugal) with 6.70m, Greece's Stiliani Pilatou who has twice gone over 6.66m this winter and Cuba's Yargelis Savigne could also pose a threat.

The entry standard for the event has been set at 6.65m. There are a total of 19 competitors and only eight will go to Sunday's final.

"I will look to make it to the finals first," Anju, who will next lead India's charge at the Commonwealth Games, added.