Coach told me not to take part: Khushbir

New Delhi, February 19  

Axed from the Indian team for the Asian Championships for pulling out of the Nationals here, Khushbir Kaur today said that she had to suffer for no fault of hers as it was her coach Alexander Artsybashev who told her not to participate in the event.

Kaur and Manish Singh Rawat, both top 20km race walkers, were axed from the Indian team for the Asian Race Walking Championships, to be held on March 20 in Nomi, Japan, after they pulled out of the National Championships here on Saturday at the last minute.

Russian-born Artsybashev, who is set to be shown the door after the Asian Championships, told reporters that both the athletes skipped the event because they were not well. But contradicting his claims, Kaur and Rawat said they were fit and pulled out on the instructions of their coach. 

“It is not my duty to inform AFI. The coach is there for it. Please tell me whether I should listen to my coach or AFI. He told me not to participate,” said Kaur. “I was not unwell. But the coach told me I would be given direct entry by AFI for the Asian Championships, there was no need to take part in the National Championships.” — PTI

BSF beat CRPF 3-0

Chandigarh: Lyalpur Khalsa College, Jalandhar, beat DAV College, Jalandhar, 4-2 on penalties in the college category of the Harbhajan Singh Memorial football tournament at Mahilpur today. In a semifinal of the club category, BSF thrashed CRPF 3-0.