AFI delves into the fiasco

Maha Singh long jump, Anil Kumar 100m, Navpreet Singh shot put, Ranvijay Singh shot put, Kulwinder Singh decathalon, PS Sreejith 400m, Bhupinder Singh 400m, Manjit Kaur 400m, but not on WADA list are others who continue to skip the camp.

Neither the Athletics Federation of India AFI who selected the probables for the camp, nor the Sports Authority of India SAI 8211; the money-sanctioning authority for national camps 8212; are treating this lightly.

It is getting clearer by the day that the missing athletes are off limits for fear that WADA officials may come visiting again, to collect samples.

This, in turn, rises enough suspicion on whether the athletes are actually clean. If they are, AFI as officials claim, why run away? It also raises serious doubts over the reason for those many Indian athletes8217; Qatar-South Africa 8216;junket8217;.

When contacted, AFI secretary Lalit Bhanot said he will question the absentees individually. 8220;I have got the list of the absentees. We will ask all the athletes individually to give reason for not joining the camp.8221;

However, it8217;s not known whether the federation is contemplating any action against the erring athletes. But issue can have serious repercussions on the ensuing domestic circuit, from February 15 at New Delhi and February 19 at Patiala.

Since the 8220;missing8221; athletes may not be training as expected, according to sources in the camp, they may not participate in the two domestic circuit competitions.

Of the 12 athletes, half were members of the Doha and South Africa trip, to justify the foreign tour, and at the same time compensate the athletes in question, the AFI may postpone the domestic competition.

The AFI, though, said the meets are as per schedule, but there was a hint of lack of accommodation at the Nehru Stadium. 8220;Due to the Melbourne Commonwealth Games, there is some problem of accommodation at Nehru Stadium,8221; said Bhanot.

Lifters of 3 countries banned; advantage India

Patiala: With top two Commonwealth countries 8211; Nigeria and England weightlifting federations as well as Australia stuck in doping scandals, its advantage India. The Nigerian federation already faces a two-year suspension as three of its lifters have tested positive. The fate of the England teams hangs in the balance, awaiting sanction from the international body. England, according to one Indian official, will also go the Nigeria way. Hosts Australia, it is learnt, have also been hit, with four of their lifters testing positive. As per rule Australian lifters too can8217;t take part. It is encouraging news for India. Indian lifters who appeared for trials today, were miles ahead of the third position of the Manchester Commonwealth Games, the qualification criterion. Barring two weight categories 8212;- 69kg and 105-plus kg 8212; lifters in other groups achieved the qualifying standard with ease. A 13-member team has been selected, including seven women, for Melbourne.

SQUAD FOR MELBOURNE

Men: Vicky Batta and R Edwin 56kg, M Arun 62kg MD Zakir 77kg, Satisha Rai and Tejinder Singh 85kg.

Women: Kunjurani Devi 48kg, Y Renu Bala and Promeela Valli 58kg, Monika Devi 69kg, P Shalja 75kg and Geeta Rani and Simple Kaur 75-plus kg.

PERFORMANCE OF THE TRIALS

56kg 242.50kg: Vicky Batta 251kg; Veera Bardran 243kg; R Ewdin 248kg.
62kg 245kg : M Arun 271kg.
69kg 297.5kg: G Vadevelu 278; Sudhir Kumar 290kg.
77kg 290kg: MD Zakir 311kg; Gurcharan Singh 302kg; V Prabu 306kg
85kg 320kg: Satisha Rai 320; Tejinder Singh 329kg
Plus 105kg 380 kg: G Damodran 334
Qualifying mark given in bracket

8212; Navneet Singh