60-member Indian squad to take part in Asian Athletics

A 60-member Indian squad, sans stars like long jumper Anju Bobby George and 1500m runner Sinimole Paulose, will take part in the 18th Asian Athletics Championships, which begins in Guangzhou, China, on Tuesday.

India, who finished second behind China in the last edition in Amman, Jordan, in 2007, will be without Anju, who hasn't participated in any competition after her injury during the Beijing Olympics. Anju had won silver in Amman.

Sinimole Paulose, who won gold in 1500m and silver in 800m in Amman, was also left out, along with J J Sobha and Sushmita Singha Roy, who won silver and bronze respectively in the women's heptathlon in 2007.

Another top woman athlete Preeja Sreedharan who won a silver in the 5,000m and 10,000m will also not be seen in action.

The 28-strong Indian women's challenge will be led by K Chitra Soman, who won gold in the 400m in Amman, and Krishna Poonia, who won a bronze in discus throw.

Tintu Lukka, the young protege of the legendary P T Usha, has also been included for the 800m.

The Indian women's 4x400m relay team, which won the gold in Amman, is expected to win something even this time with the last edition runners Mandeep Kaur, Manjeet Kaur, Sini Jose and K Chitra Soman still among the participants.

Among men, triple jumper Renjith Maheswary will look to defend his gold, while long distance runner Surendra Kumar Singh will be eager to win at least a medal after winning gold in the three Asian Grand Prix events early this year.

Others in the strong Indian men's squad include high jumper Hari Shankar Roy, shot putter Om Prakash Singh, 1500m runner Chatholi Hamza and Babubhai Panocha in 20 km walk. The only omission in the men's squad was that of United States-based discus thrower Vikas Gowda.

The squad

Men: Arunjith (200m; 4x100m relay), Chatholi Hamza (1500m), Ganapathiplackal (400m Hurdles), G Nagaraj (100m; 4x100m relay), Sathya Suresh (100m, 4x100m relay), Ritesh Anand 4x100m relay), Mohd. Abdul Najeeb Qureshi (4x100m relay), Sameer Mon (4x100m relay), Bibin Mathew (400m, 4x400m relay), Sheikh Mortaja (400m, 4x400m relay), Joseph Abraham (4x400m relay), Binu Mathew (4x400m relay), Harpreet Singh (4x400m relay), VB Bineesh (4x400m relay), Om Prakash Singh (shot put), Babubhai Panucha (20km walk), Sandeep Kumar (10000m), Sunil Kumar (1500m), Renjith Maheswary (triple jump), Kashinath Naik (javelin throw), Om Narayan (javelin throw), Hari Shankar Roy (high jump), Amarjeet Singh (triple jump), Bhartinder Singh (decathlon), Elam Singh (3000m steeplechase), Harminder Singh (20km walk), Jaibir Singh (3000m steeplechase), Mahan Singh (long jump), Surendra Singh (5000m), Shishpal Prakash Verma (800m), Saurabh Vij (shot put).

Women: Reshmi Bose (long jump, triple jump), Manjunath Jyothi (100m, 4x100m relay), Narayana Sharadha (100m, 4x100m relay), Kanchana Priya Premachandram, Nidhi (4x100m relay), Mandeep Kaur (400m, 4x100m relay, 4x400m relay), Manjeet Kaur (400m, 4x400m relay), Sini Jose (4x400m relay), K Soman Chitra (4x400m relay), Priyanka Pawar (4x400m relay), Harwant Kaur (discus throw), Jhuma Khatun (5000m), Sahana Kumari (high jump), Tintu Lukka (800m), MA Prajusha (long jump, triple jump), Sukanya Mishra (hammer throw), Krishna Poonia (discus throw), G G Promila (heptathlon), Kavita Raut (5000m, 10000m), S Saraswathi (javelin throw), Simon Rajam Bindhu (1500m), Sushma Devi (800m, 1500m), Kiran Tiwari (3000m steeplechase), V Sureka (pole vault).