The latest sports sensation, PU Chitra has been denied entry in the Indian squad for the upcoming World Championships. The Kerala sprinter had qualified for the mega event by winning a Gold at the Asian Athletics Championships.
The Athletics Federation of India have excluded Chitra from the squad stating that her timing is slower than the world standards.
Middle distance runner, Chitra has filed a petition in the Kerala High Court, challenging the decision of AFI. The tournament kick starts in London on August 4.
Chitra’s lawyer, Rajit, said on Tuesday, “Chitra won the gold, but was not picked when the team was announced. The Athletics Federation of India’s (AFI) chairman of selectors and secretary have to explain based on what criteria the Indian team was picked and why Chitra was excluded,” Indian Express reported.
However, the 22-year-old athlete has support from Chief Minister, Pinarayi Vijayan. The CM of Kerala took to Facebook to extend his support. He said, “Excluding Chitra, pride of not only of Kerala but also of the country, from the team for World Athletics Championship is condemnable.” “Neglect shown to the athlete cannot be justified,” Vijayan added.
The unstoppable sprinter, PU Chitra, surpassed her personal best by 7 seconds in the Asian Championships.
Also Read: Get To Know PU Chitra, The Latest Sensation In Athletics
GS Randhawa, the Athletics Federation of India’s chairman of selectors, said , “We decided to only select those athletes who had achieved performances close to IAAF’s qualifying marks and not everyone who had won gold at the Asian Championships. China and Japan didn’t field their top athletes at the Asian Championships so the AFI had to conduct a closer scrutiny of the performances of our athletes.”
“We have not named some athletes who have won gold in Asian Championships because their performances were well below the IAAF World Championships qualifying standards,” Randhawa said.
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Other top Indian 3000m steeplechaser Sudha Singh and Ajoy Kumar were denied entry as well.
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