AFI Media
19 February 2018
New Delhi. The selection committee of Athletics Federation of India (AFI) declared the Indian 20km Race Walking team for the 21st Commonwealth Games to be held in Gold Coast (Australia) from April 4-15, 2018.
The Indian Men’s 20km team will comprise Irfan KT and Manish Singh Rawat who won the gold and silver medals, respectively, at the 5th National Race Walking Championships which concluded on Sunday in New Delhi. Irfan won the National Championships title with the timing of 1:21:31.25 while Manish finished second clocking 1:21.31.72
In 20km Women’s category, Soumya B, who won the women’s 20km event gold on Sunday with a New National Record timing of 21:31.28s, and silver medalist Khushbir Kaur (1:32.16) will represent India at the CWG 2018.
The selection committee which met under the chairmanship of Olympian GS Randhawa also picked Sandeep Singh and Jitendra Singh Rathore for Men’s 50km Indian team for the IAAF World Race Walking Championships to be held in Taicang, China on 6 May 2018.
Meanwhile, the official Indian entry for Asian 20km Race Walking Championships to be held in Nomi (Japan) on 18-19 March 2018, will be Neeraj Rathi (Men, 1:21.39) and Karamjit Kaur (Women, 1:34.08). Both Neeraj and Karamjit finished on third position at the National Championships on Sunday. In the Open entry for Nomi event, the selection committee has nominated Sunil (1:21:52), Eknath Sambhaji (1:21:54), Kulwant Singh (1:22:09) and Vikash Singh (1:22:38) in the Men’s 20km category while in Women’s 20km category, Shanti Kumari (1:34:56) and Ravina (1:35:45) will represent India.
Based on the performance in Nomi, the Indian team of two athletes each in 20km Men and Women will be selected for the IAAF World Race Walking Championships, China.
The selection committee also announced that there will be no selection trials for the Asian Games 2018 to be held in Jakarta (Indonesia) from 22-29 August 2018. The performance of Walkers in Asian 20 KM Race Walk Championships, IAAF Race Walk Championships and Commonwealth Games 2018 will be assessed and considered for selecting Indian team for the Asian Games.
The other members of the selection committee present today at the AFI headquarters in New Delhi for the team selection Adille J Sumariwalla (AFI President, Olympian), CK Valson (AFI Secretary), Bahadur Singh (Head Coach India, Olympian, Padma Shree), Radha Krishnan Nair (Deputy Chief Coach India), Bahadur Singh Saggoo (Member), Praveen Jolly (Member, Asian Games Medalist), Uday Prabhu (Member, Asian Games Medalist), Paramjit Singh (Member, Arjuna Awardee, Asian Games Medalist) and JS Saini (Special Invitee).
Teams-
Asian 20 KM Race Walk Championships, Nomi, Japan
| NO | PERFORMANCE | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Official Entry – Men | Mr. Neeraj Rathi | 1::21:39s |
| Official Entry – Women | Ms. Karamjit Kaur | 1::34:08s | |
| 2 | Open Entry – Men | Mr.Sunil | 1::21:52s |
| Mr. Eknath Sambhaji | 1::21:54s | ||
| Mr. Kulwant Singh | 1::22:09s | ||
| Mr. Vikash Singh | 1::22:38s | ||
| Open Entry – Women | Ms. Shanti Kumari | 1::34:56s | |
| Ms. Ravina | 1::35:45s |
IAAF World Race Walking Championships, Taicang, China
1. For 20 KM Men & Women will be selected (2 each) from men and women by considering the performance in the Asian 20 KM Race Walk Championships to
be held in Nomi, Japan on 18and 19 March 2018.
2. 50 KM Race Walk (Men) Mr. Sandeep Kumar 3::56:39s
Mr. Jitendra Singh Rathore 3::58:55s
Walkers for Commonwealth Games 2018 to be held at Gold Coast, Australia from 08 to 15th April 2018.
| 1 | Men | Mr. Irfan KT | 1::21:31.25s |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mr. Manish Singh Rawat | 1::21:31.72s | ||
| 2 | Women | Ms.Soumya B. | 1::31.28s |
| Ms. Khushbir Kaur | 1::32.16s |
