India’s fastest woman, sprinter Dutee Chand, has pulled out of the Kosanov Memorial at Almaty, Kazakhstan (July 6-7) and the Tatyana Kolpakova meet at Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan (July13-14) as she wants to concentrate on the World University Games (WUG) in Napoli, Italy from July 3 to 14.
The Athletics Federation of India (AFI) selection committee on Wednesday selected a 27-member team, including Chand, for back-to-back exposure trips. But the 23-year-old from Odisha, who was selected in 100m, 200m and 4x100m relay events, said her focus was to compete at WUG and achieve qualification standard for the World Championships at Doha in September. “My aim is to clock 11.24sec in 100m dash and earn a Doha berth,” said Chand.
Chand, currently training in Bhubaneswar, says she will leave for Napoli on June 29. “The 100m heats are on July 8 and the final is on the following day. So, I cannot compete in Almaty and Bishkek competitions,” she said. “In case I am not able to qualify for World Championships in Napoli, I will then compete in the Inter-State Championships at Lucknow in August.”
The national record holder in 100m had anchored the new-look relay team to fourth position with a time of 43.81sec at the Asian Championships in Doha in April. Archana Suseendran, Veeramani Revathi and Kunnath Ranga were the other runners.
{{/usCountry}}The national record holder in 100m had anchored the new-look relay team to fourth position with a time of 43.81sec at the Asian Championships in Doha in April. Archana Suseendran, Veeramani Revathi and Kunnath Ranga were the other runners.
{{/usCountry}}Deputy chief coach, Radhakrishnan Nair, said the two competitions were part of the future development programme. “We have selected her (Chand)… whether she wants to compete or not is up to her,” he said. Archana, Revathi, Hina and S Rashmi Prakash are the other members of the relay squad. “All athletes, except Chand, are training in Patiala,” said Nair.
There is also a likelihood of relay coach N Ramesh, who was with the squad in Doha for the Asian Championships, not accompanying the team. “We might nominate a new coach,” said Nair.