Hima Das missing from AFI's initial WC entry submitted to IAAF
New Delhi, Sep 13: World junior champion Hima Das' participation in the World Championships relay events became a matter of intense speculation on Friday after she was left out of the initial entries even though her name can still be added by September 16.
The Athletics Federation of India (AFI) had on September 9 named seven women, including Hima, for the 4x400m relay and 4x400m mixed relay races. But it is learnt that Hima's name was missing in the initial entry of Indian women athletes for the two relay races submitted by AFI to the IAAF for the September 27 to October 6 showpiece event in Doha.
Jisna Mathew, MR Poovamma, Revathi Veeramani, Subha Venkatesan, V K Vismaya and Ramraj Vithya have been entered for the women's 4x400m relay, while Hima's name is missing.
The 19-year-old Assamese runner was also not entered for the mixed 4x400m relay race. Jisna, Poovamma and Vismaya were named along with Jacob Amoj, Muhammed Anas and Noah Tom Nirmal.
The AFI has time till September 16 midnight to include Hima in the two relay teams in place of another runner but not after that. The IAAF allows only six names to be entered for the relay races but the AFI had named seven women.
The non-inclusion of Hima in the initial list has put a question mark on her participation as she has been suffering from a lower back pain after the Asian Games last year.
She pulled out of the individual 400m heats during the Asian Championships in Doha in April midway through the race.
At that time, deputy chief coach Radhakrishnan Nair had said that the injury was a lower back spasm (at L4 and L5, two lowest vertebrae in the lumbar spine).
Even during her ongoing training stint in Europe, as part of preparations for the World Championships, she has run just one 400m race as she is learnt to be in pain while running longer distances.
Between July 2 and 20, Hima won four gold medals in 200m and one yellow metal in 400m at sub-par races in Europe.
In August, she won a gold in 300m. She could not qualify for the World Championships in her pet event of 400m, with her season's best remaining at 52.09sec as compared to personal best of 50.79.
AFI president Adille Sumariwalla said he is not aware of any decision on Hima's participation in the World Championships.
"I have no information of Hima's latest condition as she is in Europe. There is a doctor with the team in Europe and if she is not fully fit she will not take part (in the World Championships).
"If she runs and pulls out midway, the (relay) team will suffer. She will have to be fit to run the race. Also, she is just 20 and it is better to preserve her for the Olympics. She is young and talented and she will peak by the time of 2024 Olympics, so we should not put undue pressure on her," he said.
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Rickelton's ton in vain as SRH beat MI by 6 wickets
Mumbai (PTI): Ryan Rickelton's whirlwind unbeaten ton was overshadowed by Heinrich Klaasen's unbeaten 65 as Sunrisers Hyderabad defeated Mumbai Indians by six wickets in an IPL match here on Wednesday.
Chasing an imposing 244-run target, Travis Head (76 off 30) and Abhishek Sharma (45 off 24) shared 129 runs for the opening wicket to set the platform for SRH.
Klaasen (65 not out off 30 balls) then displayed his all-round hitting abilities to guide SRH home with the help of Nitish Kumar Reddy (21) and Salil Arora (30 not out off 10) in 18.4 overs.
Earlier, Rickelton's knock powered MI to 243 for five.
MI rode on a 93-run stand between Rickelton (123 not out off 55 balls) and Will Jacks (46 off 22) in 7.1 overs for the opening stand to power the side.
MI skipper Hardik Pandya scored a valuable 31 off 15 balls before being dismissed.
Praful Hinge (2/54), Eshan Malinga (1/29), Sakib Hasan (1/39) and Nitish Kumar Reddy (1/31) were the wicket-takers for SRH.
Brief Scores:
Mumbai Indian: 243 for 5 in 20 overs (Ryan Rickelton 123 not out; Praful Hinge 2/54).
Sunrisers Hyderabad: 249 for 4 in 18.4 overs (Travis Head 76, Heinrich Klaasen 65 not out; AM Ghazanfar 2/51).
