Chandigarh, Sep 11 (PTI) A change in technique led to woman shot putter Abha Khatua equalling the national record and crossing the 18m mark twice in less than three months, but that is not enough to secure a ticket to the Asian Games.
She is now disappointed at the prospect of missing out on the upcoming Games in Hangzhou, China.
The National Inter-State Championships held in mid-June in Bhubaneswar was the final selection event for the Asian Games and Khatua could throw only 16.39m for a third-place finish there.
The top two finishers — Kiran Baliyan (17.17m) and Manpreet Kaur (16.61m) — were named in the 65-member Asian Games team for athletics issued last month by the sports ministry.
A country can name only two athletes per event and the AFI officials had earlier said that the top two finishers in the National Inter-State Championships will be considered for the Asian Games if they breach the qualifying mark (16.30m for women’s shot put).
The 28-year-old Khatua later threw 18.06m to equal Manpreet Kaur’s national record while winning a silver medal in the Asian Championships in Thailand in July and then won the shot put event at the Indian Grand Prix 5 with an effort of 18.02m here on Sunday.
“I am a bit sad but we can’t go against rules. The last date (for submission of names of athletes for Asian Games) was July 15 and my event at the Asian Championships was on July 16. That is why, I am not in Asian Games squad,” she told
Source: PTI News
