India’s fastest women, sprinter Dutee Chand has withdrawn from the Central Asian events like Kosanov Memorial at Almaty, Kazakhstan (July 6-7) and the Tatyana Kolpakova meet at Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan (July 13-14) to focus more on the World University Games (WUG) in Napoli, Italy which begins from July third.
Dutee Chand who currently training in Bhubaneshwar says,” My aim is to clock 11.24 seconds in the 100m dash and earn a Doha berth.”
The AFI(Athletic Federation of India) earlier has selected a 27-member team which includes Chand for back-to-back exposure trips from which she pulled out. She confirmed that her focus is to compete in WUG and get qualified for the World Championship at Doha in September.
“The 100m heats are on July 8 and the final is on the following day. So I cannot compete in Almaty and Bishkek competitions. If in case I am not able to get qualified for World Championship in Napoli, I will them compete in the Inter-State Championships at Lucknow in August”, she said.
Deputy Chief Coach, Radhakrishnan Nair responded, “We have selected Chand. Now it is up to her whether she wants to compete or not. All athletes except Chand are training in Patiala.”
