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What’s the story?
Prachi Choudhary and Chhavi Sherawat, India’s two middle-distance runners had knocked the doors of the Supreme Court, claiming that the Athletics Federation of India (AFI) had been unjust towards them during the 4x400m squad selection ahead of the 2018 Asian Games.
The two athletes who questioned the selection policy of the governing body handling athletics in the country, have now lost the Supreme Court case.
In case you didn’t know…
During the 58th National Senior Athletics Championship, which was organised by the AFI in Guwahati, Choudhary bagged a bronze medal in the 400m race, while Chhavi finished fourth in the same event. This Championship was also established as selection trials for the ongoing Asian Games in Indonesia.
The criteria of selection of an athlete to represent the country was for them to finish in the top eight during the 400m race event, after which, four partake in the 4x400 relay, and two are named as the reserves. However, both Prachi and Chhavi were disregarded, even after clocking among the top 4 in the trials.
The heart of the matter
Prachi and Chhavi had lodged a petition, appealing against the AFI in Supreme Court. Their allegation claimed that the AFI had been dogmatic in their selection policies in regard with the squad selection for the 2018 Asian Games.
Post the protest from the two athletes, Prachi stated that AFI altered the rules out of nowhere, to keep them both of them out of the Asiad squad.
Parth Goswami, the victorious attorney who defended AFI during this case later explained, “Such policy was published far back in October 2017. AFI also contended that it was important for relay team to have a good combination and swift baton exchange was important to gain an advantage over opponents. SC [Supreme Court] dismissed the said petition filed by the athletes today. Interference at this late stage would have disturbed team combination for Asian games.”
What’s next?
The Indian contingent has been displaying a lot of strength in Indonesia so far. It will be interesting to see how the runners do during their events, especially after the exclusion of Chhavi Sherawat and Prachi Choudhary from the squad.
Should Prachi and Chhavi be included in the Indian contingent? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.
