Renjith, Joseph, Vikas to spearhead Indian challenge

Apparently Seema8217;s poor performance leading up to the continental competition put paid to her aspiration for a berth in the team. Seema refused to talk on the issue, saying the federation should know better.

Seema, whose personal best of 64.6m came way back in 2004, just before the Athens Olympic Games, has failed to live up to the expectations thereafter, averaging around 60m. Harwant, whose personal best of 63.05 also came in 2004, has been maintaining an average of around 60m.

However, after the Melbourne Olympic Games, Harwant has been off top action she was also among those missing when WADA officials raided the national camp in Patiala, but later she had clarified that her grandmother was ill, hence this selection comes as a surprise, though at the trials Harwant scored over Antil.

Harwant apart, shot-putter Navpreet also got the nod. So far, this season the Punjab thrower had skipped most competitions including the Federation Cup and Asian Grand Prix due to injury. Doubts persist regarding his form.

However, the star attractions of the squad remain triple jumper Renjith Maheshwary and hurdler 400m Joseph Abraham who performed well in the recently-concluded Asian Grand Prix. Renjith recorded a jump of 17.04 which was a national record. Joseph had also dipped below 50 seconds in the hurdles.

Other notable athletes in the squad are ace woman long jumper Anju Bobby George, and discus thrower Vikas Gowda.

Surprisingly, quarter-miler KM Binu and Manjeet Kaur, key member of their respective relay squads, may not focus on the individual events in the Jordan competition. Their main concern is the relay, said an official of the AFI.

According to the AFI list, besides fielding the men8217;s and women8217;s 4x400m relay squads, India will also field a men8217;s 4x100m relay team in the Jordan tournament. However, the women8217;s 4x100m relay team had been excluded due to poor form.

TEAMS

Men: BG Nagraj, Ajay Kumar, Sameer Mon, Ritesh Anand, Vilas Neelgund 4x100m relay, KM Binu, Vinay Chaudhary, SK Mortaza, Sareesh Paul 4x400m relay, Joseph Abraham, Kuldev Singh 400m hurdles, 4x400m relay, Francis Sagairaj, R. Rajeev 800m, C. Mamza, Sajeesh Joseph 1500m, Surendra Singh 5000m, 10,000m, Sunil Kumar 5000m, Santosh Kumar 10,000m, Saurabh Vij, Navpreet Singh shot put, Vikas Gowda discus, Renjith Maheshwary, Bibu Mathew triple jump, Hari Shankar Roy high jump, PJ Vinod, Jora Singh decathlon and Nirbhay Singh hammer throw.

Women: Manjeet Kaur, Chitra K Soman, Illyeen Samantha, Mandeep Kaur, Anu Mariam Jose, Sini Jose 4x400m relay, Sinimol Paulose, Susma 800m, 1500m, Preeja Sreedharan 5000m, 10,000m, Anju Bobby George long jump, Krishna Punia, Harwant Kaur discus, J.J. Shobha, Sushmita Singha Roy heptathlon.