Indian athletes depart for CWG 2018

A four-member athletics team departed for training and participation in the 2018 Commonwealth Games to be held in Gold Coast, Australia from April 4.

The team comprises of IAAF U20 World Champion in javelin throw Neeraj Chopra, triple jump national record holder Arpinder Singh and long jumpers Nayana James and Neena Varakil.

The Indian athletes will camp and train at Super Sports Center in Gold Coast before moving to the Commonwealth Games Village later this month.

Out of the 31-member athletics team selected for the CWG 2018 by the Athletics Federation of India (AFI), other members of the team will depart in different groups later this week.

Before departure to Gold Coast, Radhakrishnan Nair, deputy chief coach of India said, "Super Sports Center in Gold Coast has an IAAF approved athletics track. The facility has other required amenities as well which will help our athletes in their training. Reaching Gold Coast in advance will help athletes acclimatised with the conditions and we hope we will have good results during the Games."

Meanwhile, a 13-member athletics team of India departed for the 14th Asian Cross Country Championships scheduled to be held at Guiyang, China on 15th March 2018.

The Indian team will participate in four different age-groups at the Championships.

Senior Men- Shankar Man Thapa, Pradeep Singh Chaudhary, Arjun Kumar, Ratti Ram Saini; Junior Men- Bahadur Patel, Shyam; Senior Women- Sanjivani Baburao Jadhav, lalita Babar, Swati Haridas Gadhave, Juma Khatun; Junior Women- Poonam Dinkar and Prabhjot Kaur.