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Athletics: More questions over Asiad selection

PATIALA:What are the Athletics Federation of India (AFI) rules for if they are to be discarded at a whim?

Athletics: More questions over Asiad selection

Chhavi Sharawat



Karam Prakash

Tribune News Service

Patiala, July 17

What are the Athletics Federation of India (AFI) rules for if they are to be discarded at a whim?

The uproar over inconsistent selection by AFI for next month’s Asian Games has been growing steadily. Two athletes, Chhavi Sharawat and Prachi, have threatened to launch a hunger strike, alleging that they were not selected despite meeting the selection criteria.

At the Inter-State athletics meet in Guwahati last month, competing in the 400m category, Prachi finished third with a timing of 52.96sec while Chhavi was fourth in 53.22sec. As per practice, the top two finishers qualify for an individual event, and the next six are automatically selected for the relay event.

“AFI said we were not selected for Asiad because we didn’t attend the national camp,” said Chhavi. “But the fact is, our names were never in the camp! How were we to attend the camp? What’s the point of holding an open qualification tournament? They should organise trials among the national campers only!”

Rules ignored

AFI stated in October last year that only athletes who were part of the national camps would be considered for Asian Games. However, AFI made exceptions to this rule. Javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra and discus thrower Seema Punia were exempted from the trials. As for the national camp, Seema didn’t attend the national camp even once. Seema, who has been training on her own, has also been exempted from a confirmatory test, to be held in mid-August, before the Asian Games. This despite the fact that 11 of the 51 athletes selected for the Asiad are to go through confirmatory trials.

Tintu Luka, the defending champion in the women’s 800m, had skipped the Guwahati meet due to an injury, but she too has been given a chance to make it to the squad.

Qualified, not selected

At Guwahati, discus thrower Sandeep Kumari and high jumper B Chethan had cleared the qualifying mark for the Asian Games but were not selected. Why? Because AFI had already sent the names of athletes for accreditation to the Asian Games organising committee!

So, what was the point in naming the Guwahati event as a qualifying tournament? Giving exemptions to certain athletes, picking up others who didn’t finish on the podium, including injured athletes in the squad — all this has turned the qualifying tournament into a joke.

“We will go on a hunger strike because Asian Games is very important to us,” Chhavi said. “We wait for four years for such big events. We want justice.”

“Vijay Kumari was also not in the camp but she has been selected for the Asian Games,” Prachi added. “Moreover, three sprinters who were not in the finals have been selected.”

“The selection process was made available on the website in October 2017, and same was declared in the process,” AFI president Adille Sumariwalla responded.

Selection committee chairman Gurbachan Singh Randhawa said, “In individual events, we take confirmatory trials if a non-camper qualifies for an international event, but the federation has made a policy for team events. In team events, athletes attending the camp will be allowed to participate in international events.”

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