AFI selects Indian team for SAF Junior meet in Colombo

What’s the story?

The list of players that will be representing India at the South Asian Federation (SAF) Games has been released by the Athletics Federation of India (AFI). Gurindervir Singh and Ashish Jakhar, the national record holders, will be leading the contingent at the 3rd edition of the Asian Junior Athletics Championship that is set to take place in Colombo over the course of two days, between May 5th and 6th, 2018.

In case you didn’t know…

One of the contingent leaders and sprinter Gurindervir Singh from Punjab crushed the under-20 record in the 100m recording 10.47s at the 16th Federation Cup National Junior Athletics Championships that wrapped up just last week in Coimbatore. While Jakhar, the other leader of the team, bagged the gold in boys hammer throw event, creating a new national record mark of 75.04m.

The heart of the matter

Thirty-one boys and twenty-eight girls have been chosen in the team that is to travel to Colombo for the Championships, by the AFI.

Apart from India and hosts Sri Lanka, the other countries that will be seen partaking in the two-day event include Bangladesh, Pakistan, Maldives, Bhutan and Nepal.

Chief Coach of the junior team, Sanjay Garnaik was quoted in a press release, “SAF will serve as a good competitive event for juniors ahead of the Asian Junior Championships to be held in Japan in June. It will provide good exposure to those athletes who have never participated in an international event.”

Following is the list of athletes announced to be a part of the team:

Boys:

1. Gurindervir Singh

2. Akash Kumar

3. Prajwal Mandanna

4. Nithin Scidanandh

5. Saneesh PS

6. Gaurav

7. Nihal Joel W

8. Rajesh Ramesh

9. Ayush Dabas

10. Devender Kumar

11. Amandeep Kumar

12. Ankit

13. Ajit Kumar

14. Abhinanth Sunderesan

15. Kunal Choudhury

16. Mohammed Fias

17. Rashab Rishiwar

18. Lokesh S

19. Kamal Raj K

20. Ashutosh Chouhan

21. Santhosh Manikandan

22. Gurjeet Singh

23. Ashish Bholothia

24. Sahib Singh

25. Ajay

26. Sahil Silwal

27. Arshdeep Singh

28. Aman

29. Dhval Utekar

30. Gurpreet

31. Ajay Kumar

Girls:

1. Chaitrali Gujar

2. Vijaya Kumari

3. Nithya Gandhe

4. Siddhi Hirey

5. Rosalin Lewis

6. Jisna Mathew

7. Rachna

8. Subha Venkatesh

9. Nidhi Singh

10. Sunil Kumari

11. Abhigail Arokianathan

12. Nanhi

13. Sapna Kumari

14. Pragyan Prasant Sahu

15. Abhinaya Shetty

16. Greacena G Merry Glistus

17. Punitha Ramasamy

18. Priyadarshini Suresh

19. Khushbeen Kaur Wariach

20. Kiran Baliyan

21. Anamika Das

22. Arpandeep Kaur Bajwa

23. Karuniya Muthu Ramalingam

24. Sanjana Choudhary

25. Durga Deore

26. Ankita Chahal

27. Poonam Sonune

28. Savita Pal

What’s next?

The team is said to leave for Colombo on May 2nd and 3rd, 2018.

With a host of international meets set to be held over the entire year in Sri Lanka, the Sugathadasa Stadium has recently been revamped. The venue is all set and ready to host the athletes travelling from all over South Asia and will be providing players with various training facilities so they may be prepared for the competition and shine at the international level to bring glory to their respective countries.

Author’s take

It is brilliant to see young athletes breaking national records, and coming out in numbers to work hard and win at the international level. Hopefully, the junior Indian contingent will come out on top by the end of the SAF Games, after taking inspiration from the clan that travelled to Australia for the Commonwealth Games recently, and made the nation proud.