Indian team named for Asian Athletics Championships; focus on Toor, Sreeshankar and Tejaswin

New Delhi: India on Thursday named a 54-member team for the Asian Athletics Championships, to be held in Bangkok from July 12 to 16, featuring star long jumper Murali Sreeshankar, Asian record holder shot putter Tajinder Pal Singh Toor and new decathlon champion Tejaswin Shankar in the national track and field contingent.

The team was picked by the selection committee of the Athletics Federation of India (AFI).

At Asian Athletics Championships, the focus will be on Toor, Sreeshankar and Tejaswin, who did very well at the recently concluded Inter-State Athletic Championships 2023 in Bhubaneswar.

On the other hand, javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra and Commonwealth Games silver medallist 3000m steeplechaser Avinash Sable were not named in the team as the duo will continue to train abroad for the World Championships in Budapest in August.

As per AFI, the national camp will be organised in Patiala, Bengaluru and Thiruvananthapuram before the Asian Athletics Championships.

Anju Bobby George, Olympian and world medalist in women's long jump will be team leader of the Indian contingent at the Championships. The team will leave for Thailand on July 9.

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).