There seems to be no dearth of controversies surrounding the selection of Indian athletes, who will represent the country in IAAF World Championships 2017, starting August 4 in London.
While 1,500m athlete PU Chitra's snub has been creating a stir, IAAF list of Indian athletes for the world meet has added fuel to fire as it has 3000m women's steeplechase runner Sudha Singh, who was among the three Asian Athletics 2017 champions to have been omitted from Athletics Federation of India's (AFI) 24-member initial list that was released on July 23.
Sudha's inclusion has come as a huge surprise as the AFI decided to drop the 31-year-old along with Chitra and Ajay Kumar Saroj [Men's 3000m steeplechase], saying their season best was well below the World Championships's qualifying mark.
An athlete can qualify for the biennial world meet by making the qualification mark set by IAAF or by winning a Gold at continental meets. However, the IAAF clearly states that the national governing body can decide whether or not to send a continental champion.
AFI's request to IAAF
Meanwhile, the AFI has formally requested the IAAF to consider Chitra for the upcoming word meet.
The governing body's move comes after Sports Minister Vijay Goel asked the AFI to act according to Kerala High Court's decision, which came in favour of Chitra.
The Kerala athlete had filed a writ petition after her ouster and the Kerala High Court directed the Indian government to ensure Chitra's participation in the London championships.
Saroj and Sudha did not contest the AFI's decision. With the online entry for athletes already over, the chances of the former and Chitra getting berths for London look bleak.
Dutee Chand gets IAAF nod
India will now have 26 athletes participating for the World Championships. Notably, the IAAF accepted Dutee Chand's entry in the 100m event after the Court of Arbitration for Sports suspended the international body's Hyperandrogenism Policy, which saw the Odisha sprinter getting suspended from competitions in 2014.
The CAS has ruled in favour of Dutee, saying she is eligible to compete in national and international meets.
Here's the full list of Indian athletes for London meet, according to IAAF.
Men
20km walk - Irfan KolothumThodi, Devender Singh and Ganapathi Krishnan
400m and 4x400m relay - Muhammed Anas Yahiya
5000m - LakshmananGovindnan
110m hurdles - Siddhanth Thingalaya
Marathon - Gopi Thonakal
Javelin Throw - Neeraj Chopra and Davinder Singh Kang
4x400m Relay - Arokia Rajiv, Amoj Jacob, Kunhu Mohammed, Mohan Kumar Raja, Sachin Roby.
Women
20 km walk - Khushbir Kaur
100m - Dutee Chand
3000m steeplechase - Sudha Singh
400m and 4x400m relay - Nirmala Sheoran
Heptathlon - Swapna Barman; Marathon- Monika Motiram Athare
Javelin Throw - Annu Rani
4x400m relay - Poovamma Raju Machettira, Jisna Mathew, Anilda Thomas, JaunaMurmu, Anu Raghavan
