New Delhi, Aug 21 (IANS): With several medal winners of the Asian U20 included in the 43-member national squad, India is hoping to improve on the two silver and one bronze medals won in the 2022 edition of the World Athletics U20 Championships in Cali, Colombia. The Indian squad on Wednesday morning left for Lima, Peru to participate in the 2024 edition of the World U20 Athletics.
The Indian athletics contingent left Delhi's International Airport on Wednesday hoping to capitalise on the boost the athletes got from bagging seven gold, 11 silver and 11 bronze medals in the Asian U20 Athletics Championships held in Dubai, UAE, in April this year.
According to chief junior athletics coach, N. Ramesh, the contingent is bullish following hectic preparations in the lead-up to the World U20 Athletics 2024.
The preparatory camp for throwing events was conducted at the National Institute of Sports (NIS) in Patiala, Punjab, while the Sports Authority of India (SAI) Campus in Bengaluru was the venue for other disciplines.
“NIS Campus in Patiala has good facilities for throwing events,” the chief junior athletics coach was quoted as saying by the Athletics Federation of India (AFI).
Apart from individual events, the national team will also compete in 4x400m relay and 4x400m mixed relay events, the chief junior athletics coach said.
The Indian team that left for Lima, Peru:
Men: Bapi Hansda (400m, relay), Jay Kumar (400m, relay), Sahil Khan (800m), Hariharan Kathiravan (110m hurdles), Nayan Pradip Sarde (110m hurdles), Murad Kallubhai Simran (400m hurdles), Karthika Raja Arumugam (400m hurdles), Sharuk Khan (3,000m steeplechase), Ranvir Ajay Singh (3,000m steeplechase), Himanshu (10,000m race walk), Sachin (10,000m race walk), Mohd Atta Sazid (long jump), Dev Kumar Meena (pole vault), Siddharth Choudhary (shot put), Anurag Singh Kaler (shot put), Ritik (discus throw), Prateek (hammer throw), Dipanshu Sharma (javelin throw), Rohan Yadav (javelin), M Jayaram Dondapati (100m), Ankul (4x400m relay), Rihan Chaudhary (4x400m, mixed relay), Abhiram Pramod (4x400m relay).
Women: Unnathi Aiyappa Bolland (200m,100m hurdles), Neeru Pathak (200m, 400m, 4x400m relay), Anushka Dattatray Kumbhar (400m, 4x400m relay), Laxita Vinod Sandilea (800m/1500m), Ekta Dey (3,000m steeplechase), Shreeya Rajesh (400m hurdles), Aarti (10,000m race walk), Nikita Kumari, Amanat Kamboj (discus throw), Tamanna (shot put), Pooja (high jump), Pavana Nagaraj (long jump), Abinaya Rajarajan (100m, 4x100m relay), Sudheeksha Vadluri (4x100m relay), Neole Anna Cornelio (4x100m relay), Rujula Amol Bhonsle (4x100m relay), Siya Abhijit Sawant (4x100m relay), Sandramol Sabu (4x400m, mixed relay), Kanista Teena Maria Deva Shekhar (4x400m relay), Shravani Sachin Sangle (4x400m, mixed relay.