Manikanta left out of 100m despite making the cut for Asian athletics championships

Manikanta Hoblidhar, centre, does not find a place in the 100m. 
| Photo Credit: FILE PHOTO: SUDHAKARA JAIN

Despite achieving the qualification standard and finishing third in the National Federation Athletics Championships which concluded here on Thursday, sprinter Manikanta Hoblidhar does not find a place in the 100m in the Indian team for next month’s Asian Championships in Gumi, South Korea.

Karnataka’s Manikanta had broken the 100m meet record in the semifinal, clocking 10.25s which is also the qualification standard set by the Athletics Federation of India for the Asians but the selectors were not impressed.

“Had he finished first or second, he would have been considered,” explained National chief coach Radhakrishnan Nair after the team was announced here on Friday.

“We have also not included Gurindervir Singh who clocked 10.20s (breaking the national record) in the recent Indian Grand Prix in Bengaluru because he finished last in the Federation Nationals (with 11.21).”

Incidentally, Mankanta had clocked 10.22s in that Bengaluru meet.

Neeraj not in the fray

World champion javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra, who will be in action in the Neeraj Chopra Classic in Bengaluru on May 24, will not be going for the Asian Championships which begin on May 27.

Asian and Asian Games champion Tajinderpal Singh Toor is one of the prominent names missing in the list. The former Asian record-holder (personal best 21.77m, 2023), who has been struggling with injuries the last couple of years, suffered his first loss in nearly eight years finishing second in the Federation Nationals here on Thursday with 18.77m (AFI’s Asian qualification standard: 19.1m).

While announcing the team for the Asians, AFI president Bahadur Singh Sagoo revealed that the federation will not include athletes who qualify for this September’s Tokyo World Championships through the world rankings route at the last minute, after the withdrawal of athletes above them in the world ranking list. But the selectors will have the final say on the matter.

The Indian team: Men: 200m: Animesh Kujur; 800m: Anu Kumar, Krishan Kumar; 1500m: Yoonus Shah; 3000m steeplechase: Avinash Sable; 5000m: Gulveer Singh, Abhishek Pal; 10,000m: Gulveer Singh, Sawan Barwal; triple jump: Praveen Chithravel, Abdulla Aboobacker; high jump: Sarvesh Kushare; shot put: Samardeep Singh Singh; javelin throw: Sachin Yadav, Yashvir Singh; decathlon: Tejaswin Shankar; 20km race walk: Servin Sebastian, Amit; 4x100m relay: Pranav Pramod Gurav, Animesh Kujur, Manikanta Hoblidhar, Amlan Borgohain, S. Tamilarasu, G. Ragul Kumar, Gurindervir Singh; 4x400m relay: T.K. Vishal, Jay Kumar, T.S. Manu, Rince Joseph, Dharamveer Chaudhary, Tushar Manna, Santosh Kumar, Mohit Kumar.

Women: 200m: Nithya Gandhe; 400m: Rupal Chaudhary, Vithya Ramraj; 800m: Twinkle Chaudhary, Pooja; 1500m: Lili Das, Pooja; 3000m steeplechase: Parul Chaudhary, Ankita; 5000m: Sanjivani Jadhav, Parul Chaudhary; 10000m: Sanjivani Jadhav, Seema; 100m hurdles: Jyothi Yarraji; 400m hurdles: Vithya Ramraj, R. Anu; long jump: Shaili Singh, Ancy Sojan; high jump: Pooja; discus throw: Seema; javelin throw: Annu Rani; heptathlon: Agasara Nandini; 4x100m relay: Nithya Gandhe, Abhinaya Rajarajan, S.S. Sneha, Srabani Nanda, A.T. Daneshwari, V Sudeeksha; 4x400m relay: Rupal, K. Sneha, Subha Venkatesan, Jisna Mathew, Kunja Rajitha, Sandramol Sabu.