Ending her 24-month sabbatical, banned quarter-miler Ashwini Akkunji returned to the national side as she finished joint-second in the selection trials held at NIS Patiala on Friday.
Nirmala, who had run the first lap in Pune Asian Championship, clocked 54.60s and finished first to secure her place in the national side. Anilda Thomas of Kerala and Ashwini timed 54.70s to finish joint second, and sealed their berths.
Though not at her personal best, Ashwini rolled back the years in her last 100m stretch. Nirmala, gold medallist in the Asian Championship in Pune, took off from where she had left off in Pune. That she improved her timing was an icing on the cake. “She is young and that’s why we decided to field her in the trials. And that has done the trick as she could improve her timing (from 55.40 sec at Pune to 54.60 sec),” a national coach told TNIE.
AFI had earlier hinted that dope-tainted athletes Juana Murmu and Priyanka Panwar would appear for the screening but they failed to turn up. An official announcement of the team will be made on Saturday after the selection committee meeting in New Delhi.
Squad: Nirmala, Anu Mariam Jose, Tintu Luka, M R Poovamma, Ashwini Akkunji, Anilda Thomas.