CWG 2022: High jumper Tejaswin Shankar included in Indian squad, ending month-long drama

Indian high jumper Tejaswin Shankar received a last-minute clearance to be a part of the Indian contingent for the upcoming Commonwealth Games 2022 (CWG 2022) on Friday (July 22).

The CWG organizers accepted his entry at the request of the Indian Olympic Association (IOA), ending a month-long drama surrounding his participation.

The CWG organizers initially rejected Tejaswin Shankar's late entry. However, the IOA has now received confirmation from the Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF) and Birmingham CWG organizers about the acceptance of Shankar's entry after a Delegate Registration Meeting (DRM).

The IOA has informed the Athletics Federation of India (AFI) about the development.

Read: India at CWG 2022: Full list of Indian athletes who have qualified for Commonwealth Games 2022 (Updated)

Tejaswin Shankar racing against time after inclusion fiasco

Tejaswin challenged his exclusion from the Indian athletics team for the CWG at the Delhi High Court. After the court's intervention, the AFI included the high jumper's name in place of relay athlete Arokia Rajiv. However, his inclusion was rejected as it wasn't a like-for-like replacement and was past the due date.

Tejaswin Shankar is now racing against time to process his visa formalities and will hope to reach in time for his event at the CWG 2022. The high jump qualifiers are scheduled for August 2, with the finals scheduled to take place on August 3.

His season's best of 2.27m is in the top five performances among Commonwealth athletes.

Indian athletics team for CWG 2022

The following athletes will represent India at the Birmingham Commonwealth Games 2022.

Men:

Avinash Sable (3000m steeplechase), Murali Sreeshankar, Muhammed Anees (long jump), Praveen Chitravel, Abdulla Aboobacker, Eldhose Paul (all triple jump), Tajinderpal Singh Toor (shotput)*, Neeraj Chopra, DP Manu, Rohit Yadav (all javelin), Sandeep Kumar, Amit Kharti (race walking), Amoj Jacob, Noah Nirmal Tom, Muhammed Ajmal, Naganathan Pandi, Rajesh Ramesh (4x400m relay) and Tejaswin Shankar (high jump).

Women:

Jyothi Yarraji (100m hurdles), Ancy Sojan (long jump), Manpreet Kaur (shotput), Navjeet Kaur Dhillon (discus), Annu Rani, Shilpa Rani (javelin), Manju Bala and Sarita Singh (hammer throw), Bhawana Jat, Priyanka Goswami (race walking), Hima Das, Dutee Chand, Srabani Nanda, MV Jilna, NS Simi (4x100m relay).

Indian athletes S Dhanalakshmi and Aishwarya Babu have been ruled out of CWG 2022 after failing dope tests.