New Delhi, Apr 18 (PTI) A 21-member Indian team, led by star sprinter Animesh Kujur, will compete in five events in the World Athletics Relays in Gaborone, Botswana, on May 2-3.
There are eight women in the Indian team.
Athletics Federation of India (AFI) spokesperson Adille Sumariwalla said that India qualified in all the six relay events but has decided not to send the women’s 4x400m team.
The five events in which India will compete are the men’s 4x100m and 4x400m, the women’s 4x100m, and the mixed 4x100m and 4x400m.
“All our six relay teams qualified to participate as they were in the top 24. However, five out of the six qualified teams are going. The women’s 4x400m is not going,” Sumariwalla said in a virtual interview on Saturday.
“Our focus is the mixed relay where we have a far better chance. Some of our women are injured, so there is no point in taking athletes who are not 100 per cent fit,” he said, regarding the decision not to send the women’s 4x400m relay team.
“Our focus is the Asian Games.” Five male Indian quarter-milers have clocked below 46 seconds this year. All of them are ready to battle it out in World Athletics Relays.
“Going by the current performance of the male quarter-milers, we can expect a better time than the national record of 2:59:05 seconds,” said Sumariwalla, former Athletics Federation of India president and currently vice-president of World Athletics.
He said India has also made a bid for hosting the Asian Relays in Chandigarh in 2027, besides the intention to stage the 2027 Asian Indoor in Bhubaneswar and 2031 World Senior Championships.
During the April 14-15 Annual General Meeting in Kohima, the AFI also discussed in detail the responsibilities of the states.
“Certain states were far below what we expected, below our expectations. There was non-compliance, there were no activities happening. So, Manipur and Tripura have been made associate members and we will work with them to ensure that they improve their performances,” said Sumariwalla.
“The other two which were really not up to standard was Arunachal Pradesh and Chhattisgarh and we have decided that absolutely nothing is happening in these two states. The committees are non-functional.
“So, we have decided to constitute ad-hoc committees (in Arunachal and Chhattisgarh) and have fresh elections in the fastest possible time. So, we will ensure that we will work with them to improve their governance and functioning.” The AFI also adopted the Kohima Declaration and committed towards working with the northeastern states for national integration through sport, empowering the youth and nurturing talent in that region.
Indian team for World Athletics Relays: Men: Rajesh Ramesh, Manu TS, Amoj Jacob, Dharamveer Choudhary, Theerthesh Shetty, Nihal Joel William, Vishal TK (4x400m men’s relay and 4x400m mixed relay).
Pranav Gaurav, Gurindervir Singh, Animesh Kujur, Ragul Kumar Ganesh, Harsh Satosh Raut, Tamilarasu S (4x100m men’s relay and 4x100m mixed relay).
Women: Rashdeep Kaur, Kumari Saloni Nagar, Ansa Babu (all 4x400m mixed relay).
Tamanna, Sudeshna Hanmant Shivankar, Nithya Gandhe, Sneha SS, Srabani Nanda (4x100m women’s relay and 4x100m mixed relay). PTI PDS PDS AH AH
This report is auto-generated from PTI news service. ThePrint holds no responsibility for its content.