New Delhi: The names of discus thrower Seema Punia along with race walkers Bhawna Jat and Rahul Kumar have been withdrawn by the Athletics Federation of India (AFI) from the World Athletics Championships 2022 to be held in Oregon, US from July 15 to 24.
The full list of Indian athletes to compete at the world athletics championships will be announced by the AFI on Thursday. The qualification deadline for the meet ended on Sunday.
Seema, a Tokyo Olympian, breached the entry standard of 63.5 for Oregon22 in June last year. The Asian Games gold medallist had hurled the disc to 63.72m at the national inter-state championships. However, the 38-year-old, a four-time Commonwealth Games medallist, failed to cross the 56m-mark in the four domestic events this year.
For the Commonwealth Games 2022, which will be held in Birmingham from July 28 to August 8, Seema has been named only provisionally in the Indian team.
As per the AFI, she will have to produce good results in the competitions prior to the Commonwealth Games to cement her place in the Indian CWG team. The AFI’s qualifying standard for the Commonwealth Games is 58m, an olympics.com report said.
Meanwhile, race walker Bhawna Jat informed the AFI that she wanted to skip the world championships as her training for the Commonwealth Games resumed just a fortnight ago. She was slated to compete in the women’s 20km race walking event at the worlds.
Bhawna has been named in the 10km race walking event for the Indian CWG team but her entry is subject to fitness.
On the other hand, race walker Rahul Kumar had achieved the Oregon22 qualifying standard in February 2021. Rahul hasn’t been named in the Indian team for the Commonwealth Games.
