India's fastest men not included for Asian meet

KOCHI/BENGALURU: A few of India’s top stars including national record holder in men’s 100m Gurindervir Singh , former record holder Manikanta Hoblidhar and leading men’s 800m runner Mohammed Afsal, were among those who were dropped from the India squad for next month’s Asian Athletics Championships in Gumi, South Korea.

Indian Athletics came up with fresh yardsticks before announcing the squad on Friday, and though AFI president Bahadur Singh Sagoo and chief coach Radhakrishnan Nair said at the announcement press conference that a top-two finish at the Federation Cup was mandatory for making the squad, experts claim that it was never mentioned in the selection guidelines, published on the Indian Athletics website on Dec 31, 2024. “Because of this new rule, which was never published before, Gurindervir, Manikanta and Afsal missed out on a chance to represent India at the Asian meet,” sources told TOI.

While Gurindervir and Manikanta met the qualification mark of 10.25s at the Indian GP meet in Bengaluru, Afsal had met qualification in the heats at the Federation Athletics meet clocking 1:46.70s which was lower than the qualification standard of 1:47.77s. Though Afsal failed to get a top two finish, settling instead for fourth place in the final, none of the finalists including Anu Kumar (gold) and Kishan Kumar (silver), who both made the squad, met the Asian qualifying mark.

Manikanta Hoblidhar (Chetan Shivakumar/TOI)

According to sources, their below-par performances in Kochi may have cost Gurindervir and Manikanta. “There was a big gap in the performances. After the blazing run in Bengaluru, Gurindervir dropped to over 11 seconds in Kochi. That was the reason why he was not selected,” an AFI source told TOI. Gurindervir limped to a seventh-place finish, reportedly due to cramps, while Manikanta finished third. “Gurindervir will have another chance in the World Athletics bronze meet next month and if he shows form then he will stay in the 4x100m relay squad,” sources added.

Pole vaulter Dev Kumar Meena was also not considered despite improving his own national record to 5.35m in in Kochi, as this mark was below the Asian Championships qualification standard. National record holder Toor, who won gold in the last edition of the Asian Championship, was excluded from the squad after he finished a disappointing second with a throw of 18.77m in Kochi.

Praveen, Shaili headline squad

Meanwhile, Praveen Chithravel, Shaili Singh, and Animesh Kujur headlined the contingent. Odisha’s Animesh Kujur set a national record in the 200m, while Shaili Singh erased a 23-year-old meet record of mentor Anju Bobby George in the women’s long jump in Kochi. Praveen Chitravel soared to 17.37m at the Federation Athletics Championship to not only equal his national record but also seal his spot for the World Championship. Star javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra will be absent from the Indian contingent due to concurrent international events, including his participation in the Doha Diamond League and the Neeraj Chopra Classic.

Indian squad:

Men: 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:Sachin Yadav,Yashvir Singh; Decathlon:Tejaswin Shankar; 20km walk:Servin Sebastian,Amit; 4x100m relay:Pranav Pramod,Animesh Kujur, Manikanta Hoblidar,Amlan Borgohain,Tamilarasu,Ragul Kumar,Gurvinder Singh; 4x400m relay:Vishal TK,Jay Kumar,Manu TS,Dharamveer Chaudhary,Rince Joseph,Tushar Kanti,Santosh Kumar,Mohit Kumar.

Women: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; 10,000m:Sanjivani Baburao,Seema; 100m hurdles:Jyothi Yarraji: 400m hurdles:Vithya Ramraj,Anu R; Long jump:Shaili Singh,Ancy Sojan, Heptathlon:Nandini Agasara; 4x100m relay:Nithya Gandhe,Abhinaya Rajarajan,Sneha S,Srabani Nanda,Daneshwari,V Sudeeksha; 4x400m:Rupal,Sneha K,Subha Venkatesan,Jisna Mathew,Kunja Rajitha,Sandramol Sabu.