The World Championships is scheduled in Tokyo coming month September 13-21, and the Athletics Federation of India (AFI) has announced the 19-member Indian contingent, which comprises 14 men and five women. This year India is fielding the four-member javelin squad, which is the highest for a single event.
Defending champion javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra will lead the other Javelin throwers like Sachin Yadav, Yashvir Singh and Rohit Yadav. Initially Rohit wasn’t in the 36-athlete bracket, but in the later stage he was invited as the competitor just above his rank withdrew from World Athletics.
Two years back, a similar situation was created where four Indian Javelin throwers had qualified, but Rohit had to withdraw due to injury. That event happened in Budapest, Hungary where Neeraj Chopra went on to clinch gold, Kishore Jena and DP Manu secured 5th and 6th positions respectively and created history.
This year squad list is as follows
Indian squad for World Athletics Championships:
Men’s
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Neeraj Chopra – Javelin (Wild Card Entry)
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Gulveer Singh – 5000m (Qualified by Entry Standards)
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Praveen Chithravel – Triple Jump (Qualified by Entry Standards)
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Abdulla Aboobacker – Triple Jump (Ranking – 31/36)
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Sarvesh Kushare – High Jump (Ranking – 34/36)
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Animesh Kujur – 200m (Ranking – 42/48)
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Sachin Yadav – Javelin (Ranking – 20/36)
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Yashvir Singh – Javelin (Ranking – 30/36)
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Murali Sreeshankar – Long Jump (Ranking – 36/36)
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Servin Sebastian – 20km Racewalk (Ranking – 34/50)
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Ram Baboo – 35km Racewalk (Ranking – 50/50)
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Gulveer Singh – 10,000m (Qualified by Invitation)
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Sandeep – 35km Racewalk (Qualified by Invitation)
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Rohit Yadav – Javelin (Qualified by Invitation)
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Tejas Shirse – 110m H (Qualified by Invitation)
Women’s
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Parul Chaudhary – 3000m SC (Qualified by Entry Standards)
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Annu Rani – Javelin (Ranking – 22/36)
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Priyanka Goswami – 35km Racewalk (Ranking – 33/50)
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Ankita – 3000m Steeplechase (Ranking – 35/36)
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Pooja – 1500m (Ranking – 49/56)
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Pooja – 800m (Qualified by Invitation)