Anjali Devi tops confirmatory trial, cleared for World Championships
Anjali Devi, the fastest Indian woman in 400 metres this season, was on Saturday cleared to take part in the World Championships in Doha after she won a confirmatory trial in New Delhi. She had clocked in a remarkable 51.53s in the National Inter-State Championships in Lucknow last month.
Quarter-miler Anjali Devi, was on Saturday cleared to take part in the World Championships in Doha starting on September 27 after she ran in a confirmatory trial in New Delhi.
Anjali is one of the few Indian athletes who crossed the qualifying mark for the World Championships but she was told by the Athletics Federation of India (AFI) to run in a confirmatory trial as she was not in the national camp in the recent past.
The 21-year-old from Haryana was not included in the initial 25-member Indian squad announced on September 9 by the AFI but she appeared in the provisional list of entries issued by the world governing body IAAF on September 19 (pending the confirmatory trial).
She ran in the confirmatory trial at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in New Delhi and clocked 52.30s while PT Usha’s trainee Jisna Mathew came second with a timing of 53.05s and V Revathi had a timing of 57.59s, being a distant third. Mathew and Revathi have already been named in the Indian team for 4x400m relay. With the AFI having a policy that those who skip national camps would not be included in relay teams, Anjali is likely to run only the individual 400m
“Anjali has been cleared by the AFI selection committee, she will take part in the World Championships,” an AFI official was quoted as saying by PTI following her confirmatory trial.
Anjali is the fastest Indian in 400m this season as world junior champion and national record holder Hima Das, who has been ruled out of the World Championships, has been struggling with a lower back injury. She was part of the Indian team that had Spala (Poland) as its training base but returned home to get her ankle attended to.
Anjali qualified for the World Championships as early as September last year with a 51.79s effort in the National Open Athletics Championships in Bhubaneswar just beating the 51.80s qualification mark. She bettered it with a personal best of 51.53 to win gold in the National Inter-State Championships in Lucknow last month.
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