AFI rubbishes reports regarding Hima injury

CHENNAI: CONCERNS regarding star quartermiler Hima Das’s fitness are brewing ahead of Athletics Federation of India’s (AFI) selection committee meeting that will be held on Monday.

There were some reports that said that her participation in the 4x400m relay event — both women’s and mixed — at the World Championships in Doha is doubtful after suffering from an injury. However, a top AFI official has dismissed all such reports and said that Hima will be running in the relay events.
“According to us, there is not an issue. She is fit and will run the relay in Doha,” the official said. Hima has not managed to qualify for any individual events.

According to the official, the meeting will mainly address the selection of the main four athletes for all the relay teams. Sources in the know also made it clear that Anjali Devi, who won the 400m gold at the Inter-State athletics meet in Lucknow last month, will most likely not feature in the team.

Despite achieving the best timing for a quartermiler this season (51.53s), the Haryana athlete might not make the cut for the relay as she has not been part of the national camp before the Inter-State meet. “We do not want to take a risk in team events. We have not had good experiences in the past and we will make sure that we don’t make the same mistake again,” the official added. The official also said that Anjali’s participation in World Championships for the other events will only be confirmed after conducting confirmatory trials.

VK Vismaya is the only camper to have improved her timing after the Asian Championships in April. With MR Poovamma’s form also dipping, Asian Games gold-medallist Saritaben Gayakwad and Jisna Mathew of Usha School will be in contention for the main squad.