Neeraj Chopra to lead India in World Athletics Championships, Tajinderpal Singh Toor out

New Delhi, August 8

Olympics champion javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra will once again headline India’s campaign in the World Athletics Championships beginning on August 19 in Budapest, Hungary, with the country fielding a 28-member team.

Surprisingly, the Sports Ministry announced the team instead of the Athletics Federation of India (AFI), which later said that most of the participating athletes have already reached Hungary to get used to the weather.

Reigning Diamond League champion Chopra is gunning for a gold medal in Budapest after winning silver in the last edition in Eugene, the USA, in 2022. He has won two Diamond League meetings this season — in Doha on May 5 and Lausanne on June 30.

The 25-year-old, who had missed three top competitions between the two meetings due to a muscle strain, is currently training at Magglingen in Switzerland.

He recorded his season’s best throw of 88.67 metres in Doha, the third longest throw this season.

Meanwhile, Asian record holder shot putter Tajinderpal Singh Toor has pulled out of the August 19-27 showpiece as he is recovering from a groin injury sustained during the Asian Championships in July. National record holder high jumper Tejaswin Shankar, 800m runner KM Chanda and 20km race walker Priyanka Goswami have also decided to skip the Worlds as they wanted to focus on the Asian Games in Hangzhou, China. — PTI

Squad

Men: Neeraj Chopra, DP Manu and Kishore Kumar Jena (javelin throw), Krishan Kumar (800m), Ajay Kumar Saroj (1,500m), Santhosh Kumar Tamilarasan (400m hurdles), Avinash Sable (3,000m steeplechase), Sarvesh Anil Kushare (high jump), Jeswin Aldrin and Murali Sreeshankar (long jump), Praveen Chithravel, Abdulla Aboobacker and Eldhose Paul (triple jump), Akashdeep Singh, Vikash Singh and Paramjeet Singh (20km race walk), Ram Baboo (35km race walk), Amoj Jacob, Muhammed Ajmal, Muhammed Anas, Rajesh Ramesh, Anil Rajalingam, Mijo Chacko Kurian (men’s 4x400m relay)

Women: Jyothi Yarraji (100m hurdles), Parul Chaudhary (3000m steeplechase), Shaili Singh (long jump), Annu Rani (javelin throw), Bhawna Jat (20km race walk)