Indian team for World Championships announced

The team will be accompanied by 13 officials and coaches, including PT Usha and the only Indian medallist in World Championships, Anju Bobby George.

Javelin will feature the world junior champion Neeraj Chopra and the national record holder Annu Rani.

The Athletics Federation of India (AFI) announced a 24-member Indian team for the World Chamionships to be held in London from August 4 to 13.

The walkers had to be finalised following trials in Dharamshala, as many had qualified and only three could be fielded in the 20-kilometre event.

Both the men’s and women’s teams had six each for the 4 x 400 metres relay. Only Muhammed Anas and Nirmala Sheoran had qualified to run the individual event.

Javelin will feature the world junior champion Neeraj Chopra and the national record holder Annu Rani. G. Lakshmanan who had been in irrepressible form this season will compete in both the 5000 and 10,000 metres.

The team will be accompanied by 13 officials and coaches, including PT Usha and the only Indian medallist in World Championships, Anju Bobby George. The walk coach Alexander Artsybashev and the 400-metres specialist Galina Bukharina will be the foreign coaches in the team.

The team:

Men: 400m: Muhammed Anas; 4 x 400m relay: Muhammed Anas, Arokia Rajiv,Amoj Jacob, Kunhu Mohammed, Mohan Kumar Raja, Sachin Roby; 5000m and
10,000m: G. Lakshmanan; 110m hurdles: Siddhant Thingalaya; Marathon:
Gopi Thonakal; Javelin: Neeraj Chopra and Davinder Singh Kang; 20 km
walk: KT Irfan, Devender Singh and Ganapathi Krishnan.

Women: 400m: Nirmala Sheoran; 4 x 400m relay: NIrmala Sheoran, MR Poovamma, Jisna Mathew, Anilda Thomas, Jauna Murmu, Anu raghavan; Heptathlon: Swapna Barman; Marathon: Monika Motiram Athare; Javelin: Annu Rani;  20 km walk: Khushbir Kaur.

Officials and coaches: Vishal Kumar Dev (team leader), Tony Daniel (manager); Radha Krishnan Nair (deputy chief coach), Galina Bukharina, PT Usha, Surendra Singh, Alexander Artsybashev, Raj Mohan, Bahadur Singh Chauhan, Anju Bobby George (coaches), Arun Mendiratta (doctor), Pawan Kumar and Kinga Lidia (masseur).