New Delhi: National record holder K T Irfan and Khushbir Kaur will spearhead the Indian challenge at the IAAF World Race Walking Cup, to be held in Taicang, China on May 3-4.
Out of 12 Indian athletes, who had initially qualified for the prestigious event, only 10 members have been cleared to participate at the tournament by the Sports Ministry. Five have made the cut in men`s 20km race walk event, while four qualified in men`s 50km competition. Irfan, Gurmeet Singh, Devender Singh, K Ganapathi and Basant Bahadur Rana qualified in men`s 20km race walk event.
In men`s 50km race walk, those who made the cut are Sandeep Kumar, Maniram Patel, Manish Singh and Surinder Singh. Unfortunately, Babubhai Panucha, who was in the initial 50m race walk squad, has been left out. Another one to miss out on the flight to China is women`s 20km race walker Rani Yadav.
Khushbir will be the only Indian woman to be representing the country in the 20km race walk category. The Athletics Federation of India (AFI) announced the Indian walking team for the Cup, which is the most important event for race walkers this year and most of the world`s top stars are expected to be make their way to China.
The selection committee headed by the legendary hurdler and former Asian Games gold-medallist Gurbachan Singh selected the team for the event. "Indian walkers are fast emerging as a force to reckon with, and the AFI is focused on developing the Indian Walking Team for the 2016 Olympics. We are confident that if given enough support from the government and the private sector, walking could produce one of the first medals in athletics for India in the Olympics," AFI President and former Olympian Adille J Sumariwalla said.
India is sending one of the largest contingent to the event. Hosts China will have 27 competitors, followed by 22 from Spain, 21 each from Russia and Ukraine, 18 from Italy and 14 each from United States and Mexico and 13 from Portugal.
"For the first time, so many Indian walkers have qualified for prestigious World Race Walking Cup and we are hopeful that competing amongst the world`s top athletes will motivate them to push their own boundaries and bring pride to India," Chairman of the Selection Committee, Randhawa said.
Gurmeet Singh, who won a bronze medal in the 20km men`s race walk at the Asian Race Walking Championship in Nomi (Japan) last month, feels that the weather in China will be similar to Japan`s. "The weather in China will be similar to Japan where we did well. Going forward the World Race Walking Cup is the biggest championship this year and I`m sure that we will do well in both the team and individual events," said the Punjab walker, who has a hat-trick of medals in the Asian Championship from 2012-14.
Russia`s world 20km race walk champion Aleksandr Ivanov, Ireland`s Moscow 2013 50km winner Robert Heffernan and China`s Olympic champion Chen Ding will clash in the shorter of the two senior men`s championship distances. The senior men`s 50km race features Russia`s Mikhail Ryzhov, Australia`s three-time Olympic medallist Jared Tallent, who took the silver and bronze medals in Moscow last year.
The senior women`s 20km features seven of the top-10 from Moscow, including Russia`s Anisya Kirdyapkina and China`s Liu Hong, the silver and bronze medallists respectively.
Indian Walking Team for IAAF World Race Walking Cup:
Men`s 20km event: K T Irfan, Gurmeet Singh, Devender Singh, K Ganapathy and Basant Bahadur Rana.
Men`s 50km event: Sandeep Kumar, Maniram Patel, Manish Singh and Surinder Singh.
Women`s 20km event: Khushbir Kaur.
Coaches: Gurdev Singh and Ajay Rathi.
PTI
First Published: Wednesday, April 30, 2014, 18:17
