New Delhi, Jan 8 (IANS) Two-time Asian Indoor champion in men’s shot put, Tajinderpal Singh Toor, will lead the 17-member Indian team at the 12th Asian Indoor Athletics Championships, scheduled to take place from February 6 to 8 in Tianjin, China.

The Athletics Federation of India (AFI) announced the 17-member Indian contingent on Thursday, which includes promising shot putter Samardeep Singh Gill. The team will depart for the continental indoor meet on February 3.

Toor’s gold medal-winning performance at the 11th Asian Indoor meet in Tehran, Iran, was 19.72m. Punjab’s 31-year-old international thrower’s national outdoor record is 21.77m, set in 2023 in Bhubaneswar, Odisha. Two-time Asian Games champion Toor also won the shot put title at the 10th Asian Indoor Championships in Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan.

Promising long jumper Shahnawaz Khan and experienced triple jumper Praveen Chithravel will also begin their 2026 season at the Asian Indoor Championships in China.

Tejaswin Shankar (heptathlon) and Manikanta Hoblidhar (60m) are other prominent names in the men’s team for next month’s Asian Indoor Championships.

Country’s top female sprinters, Nithya Gandhe and Abhinaya Rajarajan, will compete in the 60 m dash in Tianjin. Moumita Mondal will compete in both the 60 m hurdles and the women’s long jump.

In the previous edition in Iran, 13 Indian athletes, six women and seven men, participated in the Asian Indoor Athletics Championships 2024. India concluded the event with four medals: three gold and one silver. Top finishes were achieved by men’s shot putter Toor, women’s hurdler Jyothi Yarraji, and Harmilan Bains, while Ankita secured the only silver in the women’s 3000m race.

Indian national athletics team: Men: Manikanta Hoblidhar (60m), Tejas Shirse (60m hurdles), J Adrash Ram (high jump), CV Anurag and Shahnawaz Khan (long jump), Praveen Chithravel (triple jump), Samardeep Singh Gill, Tajinderpal Singh Toor (shot put), Tejaswin Shankar (heptathlon). Women: Nithya Gandhe, Abhinaya Rajarajan (60m), Moumita Mondal and Pragyan Prasanti Sahu (60m hurdles), Pooja (high jump), Ancy Sojan and Moumita Mondal (long jump), Yogita (shot put) and KA Anamika (Pentathlon).

–IANS

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