By Our Special Correspondent
The Athletics Federation of India (AFI) on Thursday selected a 37-member Indian athletics team, led by Olympic champion javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra, for the upcoming Commonwealth Games, with the selection committee selecting the athletes as expected.
Of the 37 selected by AFI's selection committee, 18 were women, while star sprinters Hima Das and Dyuthi Chand secured their berths through the women's 4x100m relay team. The selectors also named the men's 4x400m relay team.
The men's javelin squad consists of 3 members, including Neeraj, Rohit Yadav and DP Manu, who also named the 4x400m relay team for the AFI multi-sporting event.
The team also includes Avinash Sable, who recently broke his own 3000m steeplechase national record for the eighth time, as well as Jyoti Yarraji, who broke his own 100m NR twice last month.
National record holder high jumper Tejaswin Shankar won gold last week at the NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships 2022 with a season-best performance of 2.27m. Tejaswin was not selected because he did not participate in the National Inter-State and did not seek exemption.
Aishwarya Babu, who broke her national record in the triple jump with a distance of 14.14 meters at the recent National Inter-State Championships in Chennai, secured a place in the team.
Veteran discus thrower Seema Poonia, who has won medals at four Commonwealth Games in which she has participated, has had the opportunity to participate in Birmingham. However, her participation in the competition in the USA is subject to meeting the qualifying standards set by the AFI.
In particular, the Indian Olympic Association gave AFI a quota of 36 athletes, while the National Athletics Association requested the IOC for an additional ticket.AFI has been given 36 quotas in the Indian team for the games to be played from July 28 to August 8.
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