Athletics Federation of India (AFI), on Thursday (June 22), announced a strong 54-member India squad for the upcoming Asian Athletics Championship that is set to be played from July 6 to 12 in Bangkok. The squad is headlined by the presence of star long jumper Murali Sreeshankar, Asian record holder shot putter Tajinder Pal Singh Toor and new decathlon champion Tejaswin Shankar.
The selection committee had set the qualifying marks for the Asian Championships and the team has been picked after taking into account the performance of the athletes in the various competitions this season up to June 6. "We did not consider any performance at the National Inter-State Championships (which ended on Monday in Bhubaneswar) for Asian Championships as the selection was over on June 6 and entries sent to AAA (Asian Athletics Association) on June 11," Indian athletics chief coach Radhakrishnan Nair told PTI on Thursday.
Meanwhile, India's Olympic Champion Javelin Thrower Neeraj Chopra and Silver medal winner in Commonwealth Games 3000m steeplechaser Avinash Sable have not been named in the squad. They are currently training abroad for the World Championships in Budapest in August.
India squad for Asian Athletics Championship:
Men: Rajesh Ramesh and Muhammed Ajmal (400m/4x400m Relay/4x400m Mixed Relay), Amoj Jacob (4x400m Relay/4x400m Mixed Relay), Nihal Joel William, Mijo Chacko Kurian and Muhammed Anas Yahiya (4x400m Relay), Krishan Kumar and Mohammed Afsal (800m), Ajay Kumar Saroj and Jinson Johnson (1500m), Gulveer Singh (5000m/10000m), Abhishek Pal (5000m/10000m), Mohammed Nurhasan and Bal Kishan (3000m Steeplechase), Yashas Palaksha and Santhosh Kumar (400m hurdles), Tejaswin Shankar (Decathlon), Sarvesh Anil Kushare (High Jump), Jeswin Aldrin and Murali Sreeshankar (Long Jump), Praveen Chithravel and Abdulla Aboobacker (Triple Jump), Tajinderpal Singh Toor and Karanveer Singh (Shot Put), Rohit Yadav and D P Manu (Javelin Throw), Akshdeep Singh and Vikash Singh (20km Race Walk).
Women: Jyothi Yarraji (200m/100m Hurdles), Nithya Ramraj (100m Hurdles), Aishwarya Mishra (400m/4x400m Relay/4x400m Mixed Relay), Chanda and Lavika Sharma (800m), Lili Das (1500m), Ankita (5000m), Parul Chaudhary (5000m/3000m Steeplechase), Sanjivani Jadhav (10000m), Priti (3000m Steeplechase), Pooja and Rubina Yadav (High Jump), Baranica Elangovan (Pole Vault), Shaili Singh and Ancy Sojan (Long Jump), Abha Khatua and Manpreet Kaur (Shot Put), Annu Rani (Javelin Throw), Swapna Barman (Heptathlon), Priyanka and Bhawna Jat (20km Race Walk), Rezoana Mallick Heena and Jyothika Sri Dandi (4x400m Relay/4x400m Mixed Relay), Anjali Devi, Jisna Mathew and Subha Venkatesan (4x400).
