Quartermiler Anjali Devi cleared by AFI for World C'ships after confirmatory trial

Quarter-miler Anjali Devi, the fastest Indian woman in 400m this season, was on Saturday cleared to take part in the World Championships in Doha starting on September 27 after she ran in a confirmatory trial here.

Anjali was one of the few Indian athletes who crossed the qualifying mark for the World Championships but she was told by the Athletics Federation of India (AFI) to appear for a confirmatory trial as she was not in the national camp for some time.

The 21-year-old Haryana athlete was not included in the initial 25-member Indian squad announced on September 9 but she figured in the provisional list of entries issued by the world governing body IAAF on September 19 (pending the confirmatory trial).

She ran in the confirmatory trial at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium here which was lashed by rain on Saturday. She clocked 52.30 seconds while Jisna Mathew and V Revathi had timings of 53.05 and 57.59. Mathew and Revathi have already been named in the Indian team for 4x400m relay.

"Anjali has been cleared by the AFI selection committee, she will take part in the World Championships," an AFI source told PTI on condition of anonymity.

Anjali is the fastest Indian in 400m this season as world junior champion Hima Das, who has been ruled out of the World Championships, has been struggling with a lower back injury.

She was part of the Indian team that had Spala (Poland) as its training base but returned home to get her ankle attended to.

Anjali qualified for the World Championships as early as September last year with a 51.79 second effort in the National Open Athletics Championships in Bhubaneswar. She bettered it with a personal best 51.53 to win gold in the National Inter-State Championships in Lucknow last month.

The World Championships qualifying standard for women's 400m is 51.80 seconds and Anjali was the lone Indian to have crossed the mark in Lucknow.

India will be represented by 27 athletes in the September 27 to October 6 World Championships.