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Neeraj Chopra is the defending world champion in javelin,long jumper Sreeshankar Murali (right) did the unthinkable and qualified by barest of the margins after returning from a knee surgery and sprinter Animesh Kujur (left) also strengthened his position further in the rankings with Inter-State gold
A total of 19 Indian athletes have booked their berth for the upcoming World Athletics Championships 2025 scheduled from 13th September in Tokyo.
Apart from defending World champion Neeraj Chopra, who qualified by wild card in the men’s javelin throw, Sachin Yadav and Yashvir Singh will join him in the event while Rohit Yadav missed out by one spot despite a personal best last week at the Inter-State National Championships.
Parul Chaudhary (women’s 3000m steeplechase), Avinash Sable (men’s 3000m steeplechase), Gulveer Singh (men’s 5000m), and Praveen Chithravel (men’s Triple jump) are the other Indians who qualified by breaching the qualification standards. However, Avinash won’t be participating due to an injury sustained during the Monaco Diamond League.
Similarly, Nandini Agasara, who qualified for the women’s heptathlon by being the Asian champion, is out of the World Championships due to an elbow injury.
Long jumper Sreeshankar Murali did the unthinkable and qualified by barest of the margins after returning from a knee surgery and playing just five competitions in the season. His jump of 8.06m at the Inter-State was good enough to push him to the 36th spot and the last spot in the rankings.
Sprinter Animesh Kujur also strengthened his position further in the rankings with Inter-State gold and is on course to become first-ever Indian sprinter to feature at the biennial event.
Sarvesh Anil Kushare and Ankita Dhyani made a last moment entry qualifying for the men’s high jump and women’s 3000m steeplechase event while Pooja entered in the women’s 1500m.
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The final decision sending the qualified athletes lies with the Athletics Federation of India (AFI) that will meet tomorrow to select the final squad for the World Athletics Championships.
List of qualified Indian athletes for World Athletics Championships:
By Wild card
Neeraj Chopra – Men’s Javelin Throw (Defending Champion)
By meeting entry standard
Praveen Chithravel – Men’s Triple Jump
Gulveer Singh – Men’s 5000m
Avinash Sable – Men’s 3000m Steeplechase
Parul Chaudhary – Women’s 3000m Steeplechase
By World Rankings
Animesh Kujur – Men’s 200m
Annu Rani – Women’s Javelin Throw
Sachin Yadav – Men’s Javelin Throw
Yashvir Singh – Men’s Javelin Throw
Ankita Dhyani – Women’s 3000m Steeplechase
Sreeshankar Murali – Men’s Long Jump
Abdulla Aboobacker – Men’s Triple Jump
Sarvesh Kushare – Men’s High Jump
Nandini Agasara – Heptathlon
Pooja – Women’s 1500m
Servin Sebastian – Men’s 20km Race Walk
Akshdeep Singh – Men’s 20km Race Walk
Ram Baboo – Men’s 35km Race Walk
Priyanka Goswami – Women’s 35km Race Walk
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