Dutee Chand pulls out of central Asian competitions

Dutee Chand has decided to opt against participating at the Central Asian tournaments - Kosanov Memorial in Kazakhstan and the Tatyana Kolpakova meet at in Kyrgyzstan - in order to give all her attention on the World University Games (WUG) in Napoli, Italy which is scheduled to be held from July 3 onwards. 

On Wednesday, the Athletics Federation of India (AFI) selection committee shortlisted a 27-member team, including Chand, for back-to-back exposure trips in foreign competitions. However, Chand revealed her sole focus was to compete at WUG and achieve qualification standard for the World Championships at Doha in September.

“My aim is to clock 11.24sec in 100m dash and earn a Doha berth,” Chand told HT.

Chand, who was selected in 100m, 200m and 4x100m relay events and is currently training in Bhubaneswar, added that she will leave for Napoli on June 29. 

“The 100m heats are on July 8 and the final is on the following day. So, I cannot compete in Almaty and Bishkek competitions,” she said. “In case I am not able to qualify for World Championships in Napoli, I will then compete in the Inter-State Championships at Lucknow in August,” Chand added.