New Delhi, August 14: Javelin Thrower Kunwar Ajai Raj Singh Rana and Long Jumper Shaili Singh will lead the Indian challenge in the World Athletics U20 Championships to be held in Nairobi from August 17 to 22. The Indian squad will leave for the Kenyan capital late on Saturday evening.
According to the Entry Lists released by World Athletics, Kunwar Ajai Raj Singh Rana is third in men’s Javelin Throw with a season’s best of 74.75m while Shaili Singh is fifth in women’s Long Jump with 6.48m.
If they can replicate their best form, they could be in the hunt to add to the medals won by Seema Antil (Discus Throw, 2002), Navjeet Kaur Dhillon (Discus Throw, 2014), Neeraj Chopra (Javelin Throw, 2016) and Hima Das (400m, 2018)
There are others like Triple Jumper Donald Makimaraj (sixth with 15.76m), Shot Putter Amandeep Singh Dhaliwal (eighth with 19.15m), Amit (third in 10,000m Race Walk), Priya H. Mohan (seventh in 400m) and Ankita Dhyani (sixth in 5000m) who can raise the bar and showcase India’s progress in track and field sport.
The team:
Boys: Nalubothu Shanmuga Srinivas (200m), Anu Kumar (800m), Sunil Joliya Jinabhai (3000m steeplechase), Tejas Ashok Shirse (110m hurdles), Hardeep and Rohan Kamble (400m hurdles), Amit (10000m race walk), Amandeep Dhaliwal (shot put), Kunwer Ajai Singh Rana and Jay Kumar (javelin throw), Vipin Kumar (hammer throw), Donald Makimaraj (Triple Jump), Bharth S, Kapil, Abdul Razak, Sumit Chahal and Nagarjunan S (4x400m relay);
Girls: Priya H Mohan and Summy (400m), Pooja (800m and 1500m), Ankita Dhyani (5000m), Agasara (100m hurdles), Shaili Singh (long jump), Baljeet Bajwa (10000m race walk), Priya H Mohan, Summy, Payal Vohra, Deepanshi and Kunja Rajitha (4x400m relay).
