Athletics Federation of India (AFI) has finalized a 95-member National squad, including five from Odisha for the 22nd Asian Athletics Championships starting here at Kalinga Stadium on July 5, 2017. The five Odisha athletes are: sprinters Dutee Chand, Srabani Nanda and Amiya Kumar Mallick; woman hurdler Jauna Murmu and pentathlete Purnima Hembram.
The National squad features 48 men and 47 women. Among the Indian athletes, seven had to undergo fitness trial here before securing berths in the final squad. ``Our athletes have had a string of solid performances in the run-up to the competition and we believe they are primed to deliver their best here,’’ AFI President Adille Sumariwalla said. ``We are sure they would win more than the 13 medals claimed in the last edition at Wuhan in China.”
An Olympian sprinter himself, the AFI President said he was confident Odiya sprinters Dutee Chand and Srabani Nanda as well Amiya Kumar Malick in the men’s sprints would secure podium finishes. ``Besides, there are a number of talented athletes like javelin throwers Neeraj Chopra and Annu Rani, long jumper Ankit Sharma, steeplechaser Sudha Singh and quarter-miler Nirmala besides the 4x400m women’s relay team that we have pinned our hopes on.’’
INDIAN SQUAD:
MEN: 100m, 200m: Amiya Kumar Mallick; 400m: Muhammed Anas; Amoj Jacob and Arokia Rajiv; 800m: Jinson Johnson and Vishambhar Keolkar; 1500m: Ajay Kumar Saroj and Siddhantha Adhikari; 5000m: G Lakshmanan and Murli Kumar Gavit; 10,000m: Lakshmanan, Gopi Thonakal and Kalidas Hirave; 3000m steeplechase: Naveen Kumar and Durga Bahadur Budha; 110m hurdles: Siddhant Thingalaya and Prem Kumar; 400m hurdles: Jabir MP, Santhosh Kumar T and Durgesh Kumar Pal; Pole vault: S Siva; High jump: Chethan B and Ajay Kumar; Long jump: Ankit Sharma, Samsheer SE and Siddharth Mohan Naik; Triple jump: Arpinder Singh and Karthik U; Shot put: Tajinder Pal Toor, Jasdeep Singh Dhillon and Omprakash Singh Karhana; Discus throw: Vikas Gowda, Dharamraj Yadav and Kirpal Singh; Hammer throw: Niraj Kumar; Javelin throw: Neeraj Chopa, Davinder Singh Kang and Abhishek Singh; Decathlon: Jagtar Singh and Abhishek Shetty; 4x100m relay: Amiya Kumar Mallick, Jyotishankar Debnath, Anuroop John, VK Elakkiya Dasan, Pravin Muthukumaran and Chintha Sudhakar; 4x400m relay: Muhammed Anas, Amoj Jaco, Arokia Rajiv, Sachi Roby, Mohan Kumar and Kunju Muhammed.
WOMEN: 100m and 200m: Dutee Chand and Srabani Nanda; 400m: Nirmala, MR Poovamma and Jisna Mathew; 800m:Tintu Luka, Archana Adhav and Lili Das; 1500m: Monika Choudhary; 5000m: L Suriya and Sanjivani Jadhav; 10,000m: L Suriya, Sanjivani Jadhav and Meenu; 3000m steeplechase: Sudha Singh and Parul Chaudhary; 100m hurdles: Nayana James; 400m hurdles: Anu R, Jauna Murmu and Arpitha M; Pole vault: KM Sangeeta; High jump: Sahana Kumari and Swapna Barman; Long jump: Nayana James, Neena V and G Karthika; Triple jump: Sheena NV and Joyline Murali Lobo; Shot put: Manpreet Kaur, Ramanpreet Kaur and Anamika Das; Discus throw: Kamalpreeet Kaur Bal, Seema Punia and Himani Singh; Hammer throw: Sarita R Singh and Gunjan Singh; Javelin throw: Annu Rani, Poonam Rani Singh and Suman Devi; Heptathlon: Swapna Barman, Purnima Hembram and Liksy Joseph; 4x100m relay: Dutee Chand, Srabani Nanda, Merlin Joseph, Reena George, Ruma Sarkar and Himashree Roy; 4x400m relay: Nirmala, Poovamma, Jisna Mathew, Vijayakumari GK, Sarita Ben Gayakwad and Debashree Mazumdar.