No Neeraj Chopra in squad for Asian Athletics Championships; M Sreeshankar, Tejaswin Shankar included

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Athletics Federation of India on Thursday (June 22, 2023) named a 54-member squad for Asian Athletics Championships sans Tokyo Olympics champion Neeraj Chopra, who has been recovering from injury in Europe. The Asian Championships are slated in Bangkok from July 12 to 16.

Another notable absence in the squad is 3000m steeplechase Avinash Sable, who has been training in the USA for the World Athletics Championships in August. The prominent inclusions in the squad are long jumper Murali Sreeshankar, Asian record holder shot putter Tajinder Pal Singh Toor and new decathlon champion Tejaswin Shankar.

The team, which has 26 women in it, was picked by the selection committee of the Athletics Federation of India (AFI), which had set qualifying marks for the Asian Championships, 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.

He had said that last week a preliminary team for the continental meet was already picked and the National Inter-State Championships was the "confirmatory" event for those who were training abroad and also didn't participate in the Federation Cup held in May in Ranchi.

Nair had said during the National Inter-State Championships that the team for the Asian event would be announced after a review meeting of the AFI selection committee. Most the athletes were picked on the basis of winning gold and silver and breaching the Asian Championships mark at the Federation Cup.

Sreeshankar, the country's newest Diamond League medallist was named on the basis of his performances before the National Inter-State Championships, where he produced a stunning 8.41m leap. Some athletes were also named on the basis of their performances outside of the Federation Cup and National Inter-State by taking into account the earlier domestic and international events.

A few athletes, who were very close to the qualifying mark, were also named in the team. Baranica Elangovan was named for the women's pole vault on the basis of her 4.10m effort -- the Asian Championships qualifying mark -- at the Indian Grand Prix 3. She was third with 3.60m in the Federation Cup and had a 'No Mark' during the National Inter-State.

Lili Das was also picked in the women's 1500m on the basis of her timing abroad as she had clocked a season's best of 4:14.16 -- better than qualifying time of 4:17.90 -- at Portland, USA, earlier this month. She did not take part in the Federation Cup and finished ninth at the National Inter-State with a time of 4:23.69.

Federation Cup 1500m gold and silver medallist Ankita (4:16.99) and Chanda (4:17.55) were respectively named for 5000m and 800m.

The Team: 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).

With inputs from PTI