After missing last week’s Tatiana Kolpakova meet at Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan owing to visa issues, a bunch of Indian athletes will leave New Delhi on Thursday to compete in the two-day G. Kosanov memorial meet which begins at Almaty, Kazakhstan, on June 24.
“The team could not go to Kyrgyzstan (June 17) owing to visa issues,” said a national coach. “But we will be sending a women’s 4x100m relay team along with the other athletes to Kazakhstan.”
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The team for Almaty includes the country’s fastest woman Dutee Chand, Srabani Nanda, Merlin Joseph, Reena George, quartermilers Jisna Mathew, M.R. Poovamma, Asian 800m champion Tintu Luka, long and triple jumpers V. Neena and N.V. Sheena, shot put national record holder Manpreet Kaur, national men’s long jump record holder Ankit Sharma, triple jumper Arpinder Singh and shot putter Tejinderpal Singh Toor. P.T. Usha and Nagapuri Ramesh are among the coaches who will be going to Almaty.
Controversy
The Indian team’s trip to Almaty ran into a bit of controversy on the road to the Olympics last year and Dutee Chand’s 100m national record time of 11.24s was not ratified by the AFI though it helped her qualify for the Olympics.
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“Neutral observers doubt the races in which Dutee Chand clocked 11.24s and 11.30s (in final and heats) in the Almaty meet in June 2016,” said the AFI later.
The women’s 4x100m relay team, which included Dutee, Srabani and Merlin Joseph, also broke the national record at Almaty last year.
Dutee, who broke her national record with a 11.30s (OR: 11.33s, 2016) in the Indian GP in New Delhi last month, will be looking to make the qualification standard of 11.26s for August’s Worlds in London.
Long jumper Ankit Sharma raised many eyebrows when he broke the national record with an amazing leap of 8.19m at Almaty last year. Compared to that, his form has been mediocre this year.
Will Almaty prove to be a magical stage again?