New Delhi, July 4 (IANS) The Athletics Federation of India (AFI) has revised the domestic Indian Athletics Series calendar to provide promising athletes with additional competition opportunities ahead of the Glasgow Commonwealth Games and the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games.

Announcing the revised schedule on Saturday, AFI president Bahadur Singh Sagoo said the changes were made keeping in mind athletes who narrowly missed qualification for the two major international events.

“The Indian Athletics Series has been rescheduled keeping in mind the promising athletes who weren’t able to qualify for the Glasgow Commonwealth Games and Asian Games,” Sagoo said.

He also confirmed that while the dates have changed, the venues for the competitions will remain unchanged.

“The venues of the competition that have been rescheduled will remain the same.”

Under the revised calendar, the 13th leg of the Indian Athletics Series has been moved from August 14 to August 18. The 14th leg has been pushed back by nine days from August 16 to August 25. The 15th leg, originally set for August 29, will now take place on September 2.

Sagoo also announced changes to the season-ending event, which will now be held two days earlier than originally planned. “The final of the Indian Athletics Series will be held on September 10 and not September 12,” says the AFI president. “All athletes bound for the Japan Asian Games will compete in the final leg of the series.”

The AFI chief added that the finale would be an invitational competition. Athletes will be selected based on their rankings. “The final leg of the Indian Athletics Series is by invitation. The athletes will be invited according to their ranking in the respective events.”

Sagoo stated that the series has become an important platform for Indian athletes to compete regularly at home. “The Indian Athletics Series received an overwhelming response in the past. It was a good opportunity for athletes to compete in their own backyard.”

The rescheduling comes after the successful staging of the 65th National Inter-State Senior Athletics Championships, held in Bhubaneswar from June 24 to 28. Meanwhile, preparations for the international season are already underway. The first batch of Indian athletes will leave for Europe on Saturday to fine-tune their preparations for the Commonwealth Games, which begin in Glasgow on July 23. According to Sagoo, the second batch of athletes is scheduled to leave early next week.

–IANS

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