NEWS
OTHER SPORTS
DIARY
PEOPLE
MATCH REPORTS
SLIDE SHOW
ARCHIVES

Sunita Rani, Shakti for World athletics

Asian Games silver medallist Sunita Rani of Punjab and shotputter Shakti Singh of Haryana figure in the "tentative" list of 15 members announced by the Amateur Athletic Federation of India for the World Championships in Seville, Spain, later this month.

Announcing the team in Bangalore this evening, after the conclusion of the Federation Cup Athletics Championships - the selection trial meet, AAFI secretary Lalit Bhanot told newsmen that a decision on sending the men's relay team to the meet would be taken later.

The team:
Men: Shakti Singh (shot put); P Ramachandran, Jata Shankar, Prabhjot Singh, Paramjit Singh, P H Abdullah and Lijo David (4 x 400 metres relay).
Women: Sunita Rani (1,500 and 5,000 metres); Neelam J Singh (discuss throw); Gurmeet Kaur (javelin); Jincy Philip, M K Asha, Rosa Kutty, K M Beenamol and Manjima Kuriakose (4 x 400 metres relay).

Bhanot said there were many athletes who attained the qualifying marks prescribed by the AAFI, but only those who had a chance of winning a medal were considered for selection.

He said if the men's relay team were able to clock below the time fixed by the federation, five athletes would be sent. That would be decided at a selection trial to be held later. The AAFI was planning to send the men's relay team to the meet keeping the Sydney Olympics in mind. "Individually they had no chance of winning a medal. But they could bring a medal in the relay," he said.

UNI