Discus thrower Navjit Kaur Dhillon failed to impress though she won a gold medal at the Kosanov Memorial Athletics Meet here on Saturday, putting a question mark on her Commonwealth Games selection.
Dhillon won the competition with a best throw of 56.24 metres. She won the gold medal at the National Inter-State Championships (10-14 June) in Chennai with a best effort of 55.67m.
Dhillon was included in the 36-man Indian athletics squad on 16 June, with his name riding against “subject to guidelines received in Kazakhstan”. The CWG qualifying guideline prepared by the Athletics Federation of India (AFI) is 58.00 m for women’s discus throw.
It remains to be seen what the AFI will do in the case of Dhillon, who crossed the Commonwealth Games qualifying standard with an effort of 58.03m when he won the gold medal at the Indian Grand Prix in Bhubaneswar in May.
The AFI added five more athletes to the team – high jumper Tejaswin Shankar, marathoners Srinu Bugatha and Anish Thapa, heptathlete Swapna Barman and 4x100m runner MV Jilana – in line with the Indian Olympic Association’s decision to increase the quota for FIs from the current one. was subordinate. Allotted 36.
Manpreet Kaur, a shot putter in the Commonwealth Games squad, disappointed in her fourth attempt to finish third with an effort of below 14.24m. That was his only legal throw. She had set a national record of 18.06m at the National Inter-State Championships in Chennai earlier this month. She returned to competition last year after serving a four-year ban for failing a dope test.
Abha Khatua, who finished third in the National Inter-State Championship, won the competition with a best throw of 16.71 metres.
Several Indian athletes, including star sprinter Hima Das, did not start their events. Hima could not travel to Kazakhstan due to visa issues. Over 20 Indian athletes are taking part in the two-day event to achieve the World Championships (15-24 July) and CWG qualification standards.
The last date to qualify for the World Championships is Sunday. Shot putter Tajinderpal Singh Toor and hammer thrower Sarita Singh will be competing on Sunday. Sarita has been included in the CWG team “subject to guidelines received in Kazakhstan.
Toor’s participation in the Commonwealth Games will also depend “subject to performance in Kazakhstan”.