NEWS
MATCH REPORTS
STAT SHEET
DIARY
SLIDE SHOW
PEOPLE
DEAR REDIFF
ARCHIVES

33-member side for Asian Athletics meet

On Saturday, the Amateur Athletic Federation of India announced a 33-member team, including 16 women, for the 12th Asian Athletic Championships at Fukuoka, Japan, from July 19 to 22.

AAFI secretary Lalit Bhanot however indicated that the inclusion of relay squads for the men's 4x100m and women's 4x400m events would be subject to their qualifying in fresh trials, to be held at Bangalore on July 12.

The AAFI selection committee -- Gurbachan Singh Randhawa, Adille Sumariwala, Bahadur Singh, A K Banerjee and Lalit Bhanot -- have included some athletes who did not attain the qualifying marks during the recent Federation Cup athletics meet in Chennai, but came close to those marks.

The athletes making it on 'grace marks' include discuss thrower Ajit Bhaduria, hammer thrower Virendar Poonia, and distance runner Harish Tiwari in men's, and javelin thrower Gurmeet Kaur, and high jumper Bobby Aloysius.

ATF 5000 metres record holder Bahadur Prasad missed the bus, owing to an injury that kept him out of the Federation Cup, which was the qualifying meet for selection. Injuries also ruled out javelin thrower Daljeet Singh and hammer thrower Pramod Tiwari.

Men: Rajeev Balakrishnan and Amit Khanna (100m, 200m); Paramjeet Singh and Lijo David Thottan (400m); Gulab Chand and Harish Tiwari (5000m, 10,000m), Bahadur Singh and Shakti Singh (shot put); Ajit Bhaduria and Shakti Singh (discus); Satvir Singh (javelin); Virendar Poonia (hammer); Rajeev Balakrishnan, Amit Khanna, Vikram Singh and Anand Menezes (4x100m relay-subject to qualification); Paramjeet Singh, Lijo David Thottan, P. Ramachandran, Jata Shankar, K. G. Manoj Lal and Dinesh Rawat (4x400m relay).

Women: P. T. Usha and Rachita Mistry (100m, 200m); P. T. Usha and Jyotirmoyee Sikdar (400m); Jyotirmoyee Sikdar and K. C. Rosakutty (800m, 1500m); M. K. Asha (400m hurdles); Bobby Aloysius (high jump); Neelam J. Singh and Swaranjeet Kaur (discus); Surinderjeet Kaur (hammer); Gurmeet Kaur (javelin); G. G. Pramila (heptathlon); P. T. Usha, Rachita Mistry, E. B. Shyla, Saraswati Dey and Vinta Tripathi (4x100m); P. T. Usha, Jyotirmoyee Sikdar, K. C. Rosakutty, K. M. Beenamol and M. K. Asha (4x400m, subject to qualification).