Commonwealth Games 2014: Indian Athletics Team Pruned to 33
Indian Olympic Association (IOA) had already released the names of 224 Indian athletes but the new list of players would only have 216 for CWG starting July 23.
Athletics Federation of India(AFI) has decided to prune down the number of track and field participants in the upcoming Glasgow Commonwealth Games from the original 41 to 33, leaving out controversial triple jumper Renjith Maheswary and the six-member men's 4x100m relay team.
Indian Olympic Association (IOA) had already released the names of 224 Indian athletes to take part in the July 23-August 3 Glasgow Games, but with the reduction of members in the athletics team, the total number of participants will now be 216.
Interestingly, 2010 Delhi CWG women's discus throw silver medallist Harwant Kaur's name was included in the list of Indian participants cleared by Sports Ministry and released by the IOA. 34-year-old Harwant has not taken part in any event for the last two years, her last participation being in the National Inter-State Athletics Championships in June 2012.
Her name though is not in the final list of 33.
Dutee Chand, who reportedly underwent a gender test on the directives of Sports Authority of India, also found a place in the 33-member athletics team.
"We have 33 Indian athletes taking part in the Glasgow Commonwealth Games. Renjith Maheswary is not there in the team and we have also pulled out the six-member men's 4x100m relay team due to injury and also due to performance related issues," AFI Secretary C K Valson told PTI.
Valson was not forthcoming when asked how Harwant Kaur's name was there in the list.
"We sent a provisional list to IOA long time back, may be four or five months back and Harwant's name might have been there. But, her name is not there in the final list," said Valson, without answering on whether the AFI had committed a goof-up on this issue also by naming her in the provisional list.
Valson also did not give any details about the reported gender test conducted on Dutee Chand. "I am not in a position to say anything on that issue. I have no idea on that," he said.
Eighteen out of these 33 athletes left for Glasgow on Monday.
The 33-member athletics team for 2014 Glasgow CWG:
Men: 4x400m Relay: Rajiv Arokia, Kunhu Mohammed, Sachin Roby, Lalit Mathur, Jithu Baby, Jibin Sebastian.
110m Hurdle: Siddhanth Thingalaya
Triple Jump: Arpinder Singh
Shot Put: Om Prakash Karhana
Discus Throw: Vikas Gowda
Javelin Throw: Ravinder Singh Khaira, Devinder Singh, Vipin Kasana.
Hammer Throw: Kamalpreet Singh, Chandrodaya Narayan Singh
Women:
4x100m Relay: Saradha Narayan, H M Jyothi, Sarbani Nanda, Asha Roy, Santhini Vallikkad, Merlin K Joseph, Dutee Chand.
4x400m Relay: M R Poovamma, Tintu Luka, Debashree Majumdar, Ratandeep Kaur, Anilda Thomas, Ashwini Akkunji.
High Jump: Sahana Kumari
Long Jump: Mayookha Johny
Discus Throw: Seema Punia, Krishna Poonia
Javelin Throw: Annu Rani.