Men’s relay team scratched

NEW DELHI, AUG 17: The men’s 4 x 400m relay team has been scratched from the Indian squad for the forthcoming World Athletics Championships in Seville, Spain (August 21-29), due to injury to two runners and a poor effort in the final trials held at SAI South Centre, Bangalore, yesterday. Two of the runners, Lijo David Thottan and Jata Shankar, could not take part in the trials due to injury and the rest of the squad — the foursome of P Ramachandran, PH Abdulla, Prabhjot Singh and Paramjit Singh — managed to clock only a poor three minutes 07.06 seconds.

The Ukrainian doctor with the team, Yuri Boyko, felt both Lijo David and Jata Shankar, who were recovering from injuries suffered during the recently concluded meets at home, would not be in peak shape, according to Amateur Athletic Federation of India secretary Lalit Bhanot.

The Team

Men: Shakti Singh (shot put). Women: Neelam J Singh (discus), Sunita Rani (1500m, 5000m), Gurmeet Kaur (javelin), Jincy Philips, Rosa Kutty, MK Asha,Manjima Kuriakose and KM Beenamol (4x400m relay). Coaches: Jaswant Singh, Harjit Singh and Renu Kohli. Doctor: Yuri Boyko.