Dutee to lead India in Asian Youth Games

PUNE: Orissa sprinter Dutee Chand will spearhead the Indian challenge in the Asian Youth (Under-18) Games to be held in August in Nanjing, China.
Seventeen-year-old Dutee won the 200m bronze in the Asian Athletics Championship in Pune and qualified for the 100m finals finishing sixth in the IAAF World Youth Championships in Donetsk, Russia, earlier this month.
The daughter of weaver parents from Gopalpur in the Jajpur district of Orissa was among the 27 athletes selected by the Athletics Federation of India through open selection trials held in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, on Monday.
The previous, inaugural edition of the AYG was held in Singapore four years ago. India won four gold, two silver and as many bronze then.
The August 16-24 event, consisting of 118 events in 16 disciplines, will serve as a prelude to the Youth Olympic Games, which is to be held in the same city next year.
India squad:
Boys: 100m: Soumya Deep Saha (Bengal) and Mohit (Haryana); 200 and 400m: Mohan Kumar (Tamil Nadu); 800m: Mohammad Afzal (Kerala); 1500m: Shashi Bhushan Singh (Bengal) and Ajay Kumar Saroj (Haryana); 3000m: Abhishek Pal (Uttar Pradesh); 400m Hurdles: Paramveer Singh (Haryana); High Jump: Ajay Kumar (Haryana); Shot Put: Malkeet Singh (Punjab) and Ankit Tomer (Delhi); Discus Throw: Parveen Kumar (Rajasthan) and Nirbhay Singh (Haryana); Hammer Throw: Prakash Singh (Uttar Pradesh).
Girls: 100 and 200m: Dutee Chand (Odisha); 400m: G K Vijayakumari (Karnataka); 800m: Anjana Thamke (Maharashtra); 3000m: Sanjivani Jadhav (Maharashtra) 2000m Steeplechase: Lovely Tiwari (Uttar Pradesh); 100m Hurdles: Ankta Gosavi (Maharashtra); Long Jump: Athira Surendran (Kerala) and Akshaya Sonali (Tamil Nadu); Triple Jump: Athira Surendran (Kerala) and Rochalle Maria McFarlane (Tamil Nadu); Shot Put: Meghana Devang (Maharashtra) and G K Namita (Karnataka); Hammer Throw: Laxay Sharma (Haryana); Javelin Throw: Pushpa Jakar (Haryana).