Animesh Kujur to lead India's 58-member squad for Asian Athletics Championships in South Korea

New Delhi, April 25 (IANS) The Athletics Federation of India (AFI) on Friday unveiled a strong 58-member Indian contingent for the upcoming Asian Athletics Championships, scheduled to be held from May 27 to 31 in Gumi, South Korea. The announcement came a day after the conclusion of the Federation Cup in Kochi, which served as the final selection trial for the continental event.

Headlining the squad are some of India’s top track and field stars including triple jumper Praveen Chithravel, long jumper Shaili Singh, and sprinter Animesh Kujur, all of whom are expected to lead India’s medal hunt. India, currently third in the all-time medal tally of the Asian Championships behind China and Japan, will look to better its previous edition’s total of 27 medals including six gold in Bangkok 2023.

The selection process was stringent, with the AFI making it mandatory for athletes to meet qualification standards at the Federation Cup and finish in the top two positions to be considered. AFI President Bahadur Singh Sagoo and chief coach Radhakrishnan Nair reiterated the importance of recent form in the final decision.

Notably, sprinters Gurindervir Singh and Manikanta Hoblidar, despite meeting the 100m qualifying marks earlier at the Indian Grand Prix-1, were left out of individual events after failing to deliver top finishes in Kochi. However, both have been named in the 4x100m relay squad.

Exemptions were granted to elite international performers such as Avinash Sable and Parul Chaudhary, given their consistent overseas records. Sable will compete in the 3000m steeplechase while Parul is set to participate in the 3000m steeplechase and 5000m events.

Olympic gold medallist Neeraj Chopra, however, will not be a part of the Indian squad due to overlapping international commitments, including the Doha Diamond League and the Neeraj Chopra Classic.

The full squad that will travel to Gumi is:

Men's team

200m: Animesh Kujur

800m: Anu Kumar, Krishan Kumar

1500m: Younus Shah

3000m Steeplechase: Avinash Sable

5000m: Gulveer Singh, Abhishek Pal

10,000m: Gulveer Singh, Sawan Barwal

Triple jump: Praveen Chithravel, Abdulla Aboobacker

High jump: Sarvesh Kushare

Shot Put: Samardeep Singh Gill

Javelin throw: Sachin Yadav, Yashvir Singh

Decathlon: Tejaswin Shankar

20km walk: Servin Sebastian, Amit

4x100m: Pranav Pramod, Animesh Kujur, Manikanta Hoblidar, Amlan Borgohain, Tamilarasu, Ragul Kumar, Gurvinder Singh

4x400m: Vishal TK, Jay Kumar, Manu TS, Dharamveer Chaudhary, Rince Joseph, Tushar Kanti, Santosh Kumar, Mohit Kumar

Women's team:

200m: Nithya Gandhe

400m: Rupal Chaudhary, Vithya Ramraj

800m: Twinkle Chaudhary, Pooja

1500m: Lili Das, Pooja

3000m Steeplechase: Parul Chaudhary, Ankita

5000m: Sanjivani Baburao, Parul Chaudhary

10000m: Sanjivani Baburao, Seema

100m hurdles: Jyothi Yarraji

400m hurdles: Vithya Ramraj, Anu R

Long jump: Shaili Singh, Ancy Sojan

Heptathlon: Nandini Agasara

4x100m: Nithya Gandhe, Abhinaya Rajarajan, Sneha S, Srabani Nanda, Daneshwari, V Sudeeksha

4x400m: Rupal, Sneha K, Subha Venkatesan, Jisna Mathew, Kunja Rajitha, Sandramol Sabu

--IANS

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