AFI withdraws Seema, two walkers from Worlds

However, she has not been removed from CWG team

The Athletics Federation of India has withdrawn former Asian Games discus throw champion Seema Punia and race walkers Rahul and Bhawna Jat from next month’s World Championships in Oregon, USA.

Seema, who qualified for the Worlds with 63.72m at the Patiala inter-State Nationals soon after the entry gates opened in June 2021, has not come anywhere close to that mark after that.

In fact, her best this year is 55.97m which came at the Bhubaneswar Indian Grand Prix in May.

Meanwhile, 20km race walker Rahul had qualified for the Worlds in February 2021 (the entry gates for race walk opened earlier), while Bhawna is on the 67th spot in the Road to Oregon rankings with a chance to make the cut (top 60 qualify). Both had competed in last year’s Olympics.

The lack of performance appears to be the reason for pulling out Seema — who has won a medal in each of the last four editions of the Commonwealth Games — and the others from the Worlds.

So, will Seema and Bhawna — who also figure in the Commonwealth Games team — be stopped from going to the Birmingham event (in July-August)?

“No,” said Adille Sumariwalla, the AFI president, in a chat with The Hindu on Tuesday evening. “[They were withdrawn from the Worlds] for better preparation for the Commonwealth Games.”