AFI hope relay teams qualify for Doha after Worlds flop
NEW DELHI: India’s poor showing in the World Relays in Yokohama, Japan at the weekend has left the men’s and women’s 4x400m squads needing a rise in rankings to the world’s top 16 by the September 6 deadline to get entries in the Doha World Athletics Championships, starting on September 27. The qualification phase began in March last year.
“Now we have to compete in an invitational event in Europe,” said CK Valson, Secretary-general, Athletics Federation of India (AFI), on Monday. He said the focus is now on winning a spot in the Worlds before thinking about qualifying for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. “It’s a bit difficult as the rankings can move up and down as the season progresses,” he said.
The World Relays was a golden opportunity to qualify for the Olympics, both the longer relay teams fared poorly. In Yokohama, the top eight teams got automatic berths for Tokyo and the top 10 for the Doha Worlds.
In Japan, the Indian men’s 4x400m relay team clocked 3:06.05 and the women returned 3:31.93. Both were eliminated in the preliminary heats to miss out on an automatic berth and were eventually ranked 17th.
The Olympics relay competition will be restricted to 16 top teams. With eight having qualified, the other six spots will be decided as per the rankings on deadline. India’s results were not encouraging compared to the 2018 Jakarta Asian Games.
At Jakarta, the men’s quartet comprising Kunhu Muhammed, Dharun Ayyasamy, Mohammed Anas and Rajiv Arokia clocked 3:01.85 to win silver. In Japan, the injured Arokia and Ayyasamy were replaced by KS Jeevan and Jithu Baby.
Hima Das’ persistent back injury hampered the women’s showing, said Valson. Das, MR Poovamma, Saritaben Gayakwad and VK Vismaya had clocked 3:28.72 to win gold at Jakarta.
Valson said: “Fitness issues with key members of the men’s team, including Rajiv Arokia and Dharun Ayyasamy, spoiled the chance of clocking a good time. “Hopefully, the top athletes will give a good account of themselves in the near future.” France, clocking 3:29.89, was ranked eighth among women while Belgium was eighth among men with a timing of 3:03.70. “Had the teams repeated the Asian Games performances we could have made the cut in both the groups,” said Valson.
AFI is also anxious because its proposal for an 80-day trainingcum-exposure stint for the relay teams at the Olympic Sports Centre in Spala, Poland, is pending with the sports ministry. The team is scheduled to fly to Poland from Japan on Tuesday. “We are trying to sort out the issue,” Valson said.