NEW DELHI: The exclusion of high jumper Tejaswin Shankar from the list of athletes selected for the Asian Championships in Doha has caused a stir. The business administration student on a full scholarship at Kansas State University had asked the Athletics Federation of India (AFI) to exempt him from the Federation Cup, an event marked as selection trials.
The AFI maintained that participation in the Federation Cup is compulsory to qualify for Doha, even though Tejaswin recently won an event in Texas with a leap of 2.28m and equalled the national record. The qualifying standard for Doha was 2.25m.
After the squad was announced on Tuesday, Tejaswin took to Twitter to express his disappointment. He shared a screenshot where AFI president Adille Sumariwalla was quoted as saying, “We are okay to miss out on a medal in Doha because I don’t consider he will get a medal. We told him you have to participate in one of the meets and show performance. He was not able to do that and we have not selected him. The selection committee has taken the decision. He is not even in the TOP scheme... Being a national champion is of no value.”
When this newspaper contacted him, the 20-year-old said he respects the AFI’s decision if the reason was not participating in the Federation Cup. “It’s disheartening to not be included despite achieving the qualifying standard. This raises the question how unclear and vague the rules that govern the selection policy are. I respect the decision if not participating in the Fed Cup was the reason. If me not being good enough was the reason, then I’m afraid that didn’t go well with me,” said.
Sumariwalla was quick to respond that he was quoted out of context. “I am a multiple-time national champion myself. We have so many national champions. Will it work If we send all to the Olympics and World Championships?” he said. Sumariwalla also made it clear that being a national champ has nothing do with selection for a continental event.
The 61-year-old believes Tejaswin is an athlete with potential and explained why he was not selected. “He wrote to us asking to be exempted from the Fed Cup to which we said no. Neeraj Chopra and Seema Antil were, because they have medalled at the international stage and our chief coach has been getting regular inputs on them from their coaches. In case of Tejaswin, there is no confirmation about his progress. How can we send someone like that?”
teamS for ASIAN ATHLETICS CHAMPIONSHIP
Men: 4x400m: Arokia Rajiv, Md Anas, P Kunhu Muhammed, KS jeevan, Jithu Baby, A Alex; 800m: Jinson Johnson; 1500m: Ajay Kumar Saroj; 3000m steeplechase: Avinash Sable, Shankarlal Swamy; 400m hurdles: Dharun Ayyasamy, MP Jabir; Shot put: Tajinder Pal Toor; Javelin: Shivpal Singh, Neeraj Chopra.
Women: 200m: Dutee Chand; 4x400m: Hima Das, MR Poovamma, Saritaben Gaekwad, Jisna Mathew, VK Vismaya, Sonia Baishya; 1500m: Lilly Das, PU Chitra; 400m hurdles: Saritaben Gaekwad; Javelin: Annu Rani; Heptathlon: Swapna Barman, Purnima Hembram.
Meet in Doha from April 20 to 24. Team list not including those going for confirmatory trials.