The Athletics Federation of India (AFI) on Thursday announced a 14-member Indian team for participation in the Asian Grand Prix series to be held in three cities in China — Jiaxing (May 22), Kunshan (May 26) and Wujiang (May 29).
With some of the top athletes either not being available or being in the injured list, if not in very poor form, the AFI had to make some compromises in selection.
The most surprising choice is that of 20-year-old Debashree Majumdar for the women's 400 metres, possibly on the strength of her second-place finish in the first Indian Grand Prix meet at Patiala on May 3. She did not figure among the top 15 woman quarter-milers last season.
Debashree finished second to the seasoned Mandeep Kaur, in a time of 56.40s in the first Indian GP meet.
The team:
Men: Shameer Mon (100m); P. Kunhumohammed (400m); Ghamanda Ram and Sajeesh Joseph (800m); Hari Sankar Roy and Jithin Thomas (high jump); Maha Singh and Shamsher Pratap Singh (long jump); Arpinder Singh (triple jump) and Vikas Poonia (discus).
Women: Debashree Majumdar (400m), Mayookha Johny (triple jump), Seema Antil (discus) and Suman Devi (javelin).
Events in the series: Men: 100m, 400m, 800m, 110m hurdles, high jump, long jump, triple jump, discus and 4x100m relay. Women: 100m, 400m, 800m, 100m hurdles, high jump, triple jump, discus, javelin and 4x100m relay.
