CHENNAI: Long jumper M Sreeshankar is a notable name missing from the list of national campers who would continue training at various Sports Authority of India centres across the country till March 31. Javelin thrower Shivpal Singh, who took part in Tokyo Olympics, has also been dropped.
Triple jumper Praveen Chitravel and high jumper Tejaswin Shankar are missing from the list too. SAI approved the extension on Tuesday for 117 elite track and field athletes (64 male and 53 female) and 45 coaching and support staff to continue with their training despite the Covid third wave scare. Athletes would be preparing primarily for two big multi-discipline events — Commonwealth Games and the Asiad — slated this year.
National record holder Sreeshankar had a dismal Olympics and is right now training in Palakkad with his father and coach Murali. His name was there in the earlier list but this time it has been omitted. Last time the Athletics Federation of India (AFI), the governing body of the sport in the country, wanted them to train in Benglaluru centre but the two refused. They requested the AFI to allow them to train in Palakkad. This time around the AFI and the SAI did not include their names.
Sreeshankar's camp apparently had conveyed to the AFI that they would prefer to train in Palakkad instead of Bengaluru. Since his name is not part of the camp there would be a few issues for his team. Take the case of his coach, who works for Railways. Getting long leaves, if not part of the camp, may not be possible. Sreeshankar will be using his Target Olympics Podium Scheme fundings for training. He is expected to get ready for competition by end of February.
U-20 World Championships silver medallist Shaili Singh is part of the camp and will continue training at Bengaluru Centre under coach Robert Bobby George.
The athletes: Men: 400m: M Anas Yahiya, A Rajiv, A Jacob, N Nirmal Tom, N Pandi, H Kumar, A Dabas, V Panchal, M Ajmal, S Bhambri, Kapil, R Ramesh, K Singh, Rashid. 800m and 1500m: M Singh, A Kumar Saroj, A Choudhary, K Kumar, Rahul, S Bhushan, A Sundaresan, Ankit, M Ameer. 5000m & 10,000m: A Pal, Dharmender, K Kumar, A Jangir. 3000m Steeplechase: A Sable, S Lal Swami, Balakishan, Md. Nur Hassan, A Poonia. 400m Hurdles: A Dharun, MP Jabir, S Kumar, D Mahesh Utekar, T Mathew. Race Walk: M Singh Rawat, S Kumar, R Baboo, V Singh, Eknath, Juned, S Pawar, A Khatri. Long Jump: N Sabu, M Anees, Y Shekhar Singh, TJ Joseph. Triple Jump: U Karthik, A Aboobacker, E Paul, G Venister Devasahayam. Shot Put: T Singh Toor, O Prakash Singh, K Singh. Discus Throw: Abhinav, I Ali Khan, A Kumar. Javelin Throw: R Yadav, S Silwal, Y Singh, A Sing, A Drall.
Women: 100m and 200m: D Chand, S Dhanalakshmi, H Das, AK Daneshwari, PD Anjali, NS Simi, K Patil, N Gandhe. 400m: A Devi, MR Poovamma, VK Vismaya, Priya H Mohan, V Revathi, V Subha, Summy, Rachna, Nancy, R Vithya, D Jyotika Sri, J Mathew. 800m, 1500m and 5000m: L Das, PU Chitra, Chanda, C Gumnaram. 5000m and 10,000m: K Yadav. Marathon: S Singh. 3000m Steeplechase: P Chaudhary, P Lamba. Race Walk: Bhawna Jat, P Goswami, S Sukhwal, R Kaur, Ravina. Long Jump: S Singh, Renu, A Sojan, P Saini. Shot Put: M Kaur Sr., A Kathua, K Choudhary. Discus Throw: S Punia, K Kaur, N Rani, Sunita. Javelin Throw: A Rani, K Sharmila, S Choudhary. Hammer Throw: M Bala, Sarita R Singh. Heptathlon: P Hembram, M George, S Kumari, Kajal.