Jora Singh makes it to Melbourne, athletics squad announced

New Delhi, Mar 4 (UNI) Jora Singh of BSF was rewarded with a berth in the Indian contingent for the 18th Commonwealth Games in Melbourne after the 27-year-old athlete created a new national record in decathlon.

Jora, on Thursday, became the first Indian to log 7502 points to win the gold in the ongoing 12th Federation Cup National Athletics championship here.

The selection committee of the Athletics Federation of India (AFI) met over the last two days to select the Indian contingent for the Melbourn games.

Apart from 18 athletes selected for Melbourne -- four men and 14 women -- the selection committee also allowed provision of selection for the men's 4x400m relay team, comprising Bhupinder Singh, P Shankar, S Srinivas, Satbir Singh, Kuldev Singh and Srijith Sridharan if they clock a time below 3:04 sec.

Similarly, it was decided to give another chance to discus thrower Harwant Kaur who injured before the event and could not complete her throws.

''As she was doing well the Selection Committee also provided her a chance To prove her performance on March 12,'' AFI secretary Lalit Bhanot said in a statement here today.

Confirmed team: Men: Ghamanda Ram (800m), Vikash Gowda (Discus, Shot Put) Jora Singh (Decathlon), P S Jalan (20 KM Walk) Women: Manjeet Kaur, Chitra K Soman, Sathi Geetha, Rajwinder Kaur Gill, Ashiq Beevi (all 4x400m Relay), Pinki Parmanik (4x400m Relay, 800m), O P Jaisha (1500m), Seema Antil (Discus), Krishna Punia (Discus), Anju Bobby George (Long Jump), Sushmita Singha Roy, Soma Biswas, J J Shobha (all Heptathlon), Deep Mala Devi (20 KM Walk) UNI AY SC PC1750