The Kerala High Court has asked Athletics Federation of India (AFI) secretary CK Valson and national selection committee chairman Gurbachan Singh Randhawa to be present in person in connection with the omission of Asian 1500 metres champion PU Chitra from the Indian team picked for the next month’s World Championships in London.
Chitra’s coach Sijin NS said that both officials have been summoned. “The bench has asked Mr Valson and Mr Randhawa to be present in person tomorrow morning at the Kerala High Court in Kochi,” Sijin told Outlook on Wednesday.
When contacted, Randhawa said that he has no information about the summons. “I have not received any intimation about the court summons,” the legendary 110m hurdler told Outlook. Valson’s mobile was switched off.
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Chitra, who surprised everyone by winning the gold medal at the Asian Athletics Championships in Bhubaneswar this month, has moved the Kerala High Court against the “injustice” meted out to her.
Along with Chitra, Ajay Kumar Saroj (men’s 1500m) and Sudha Singh (3000m steeplechase), who had also won gold medals in Bhubaneswar and qualified for the World Championships, have also been dropped for the championships, to be held from August 4 to 13.
A total of 36 Indian athletes had qualified for the World Championships, but the national selection committee decided that only 24 would go to London.
It must be pointed out that it is not the AFI that bears the cost of sending the athletes to the World Championships, but the entire expenses are borne by the central government. So, it was an opportunity to send maximum number of athletes to London so that they could gain crucial exposure and experience by competing with the world’s best.
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But Chitra’s petition in the High Court is unlikely to rectify the wrong as it is already too late. The International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) deadline of submitting names for countries got over on July 23, and no entries would now be accepted, admitted Sijin. “Our aim of moving the court is that no athlete in future is meted out injustice like Chitra,” said the coach.
Interestingly, Chitra’s name had not even figured in the initial 95-member Indian squad that was announced for competing at the Asian Championships in Bhubaneswar. The lone athlete in the 1500m named was Monika Choudhary. Chitra’s name was added later, and she surprised all by clinching the gold with a personal best time of 4:17.92 seconds.
Chitra was omitted on the basis of her supposedly “poor” performance at 57th National Inter State Senior Athletics Championships 2017 in Guntur, following the Asian Championships. In Guntur, she clocked 4:28.87 secs, which was a below her Bhubanewar performance.
Randhawa tried to distance himself from taking the responsibility of dropping Chitra (and others), saying said that it was not his decision alone. “I alone did not decide that. There was the AFI president [Adille J. Sumariwalla], AFI secretary [Valson] and government nominee PT Usha and others also in the meeting. They felt that Chitra’s timing was not close to the qualifying mark set for the World Championships,” he argued.
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The criteria for qualifying mark set for the World Championships was two-fold: Either an athlete wins gold at a continental championships or meets the qualifying mark. So, by virtue of winning gold medals at the Asian Championships in Bhubaneswar, all three athletes – Chitra, Saroj and Sudha -- had qualified for the World Championships.
Even AFI’s official website admitted that. After Saroj won the 1500m race in Guntur, it wrote in the day’s report: “Ajay Kumar Saroj once again proved his mettle by winning the men’s 1500m run, with a timing of 3:45.88. The 20-year old from Uttar Pradesh has already qualified for the World Championships, thanks to his gold medal winning performance at the Asian Championships last month.”
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Saroj is a talented athlete and is also the Asian Junior champion in 1500m, having won the gold in Vietnam last year, and also won the gold at the South Asian Games in Guwahati last year. Besides, he has won many other accolades at the national level and performed creditably at international meets.
After he won the gold in Bhubaneswar, Saroj told Outlook that he would aim to break Bahadur Prasad’s 21-year-old 1500m national record of 3:38:00 seconds in London. Now, that dream will just a dream.
Sudha Singh is 31, but she also surprised all by winning the gruelling and energy testing 3000m steeplechase gold in Bhubanewar. She is currently training with other athletes bound for Lodnon. Sources close to her said that she took up the case of her omission with authorities and was told that she was not close to the qualifying mark, though she had won the gold at the Asian Championships. Someone cited her age, 31 years, but she argued that if that was the case why she was being kept in the national camp at the moment. She has a valid argument. But how often do Indian athletes get justice. Maybe the Kerala High Court will address the question while hearing Chitra’s case.
