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Athletics

Pullouts from Athletics Federation Cup put a dent in India's CWG chances

Pullouts from Athletics Federation Cup put a dent in Indias CWG chances
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Published: 7 March 2018 5:36 AM GMT
While tougher qualification marks had been set by the Athletics Federation of India with the intention to field a stronger squad at the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games, the plan has backfired. At the recent Athletics Federation Cup still ongoing in Patiala, the notable absence of some major names in the Meet reportedly has the Federation struggling to field a proper squad. The Commonwealth Games Federation has allocated 37 spots for the country in Athletics. What was most notable about the Federation Cup was the absence of India's premier sprinters, Tintu Luka and Jisna Mathews, both proteges of the legendary PT Usha. Their names are the most recent additions to a list that already included the likes of discus thrower Vikas Gowda, sprinter Nirmala Sheoran and long distance runner Lalita Babar.
Source: Malayala Manorama None of these athletes will be considered for the Commonwealth Games squad. Tintu Luka is the current national record holder for women's 800m while Jisna Matthew, the 2016 Junior Asian Athletics champion Jisna Matthew would have participated in 400m and 4x400m relay. According to their mentor PT Usha, the reason for the miss has been relayed to the Athletics Federation of India as an intention to prioritise Asian Games over the event in Gold Coast next month. Also read: Tejinder Pal Singh and Elakiya Dasan win medals at Asian Indoor Athletics This is a statement which has definitely not gone down well with AFI with the absence of high profile players putting a serious dent in the Indian squad for the Games. A Times of India report on the issue quoted AFI General Secretary CK Valson as saying,"Tintu suffered two severe bouts of dengue fever and she is recovering from that. She had recovered from the first bout and was expected to participate in the Federation Cup. But recently, the dengue fever hit back. She is doing fine now. Usha informed us that she doesn't want to take any chances with Tintu's health.'
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