The face of Indian athletics, Neeraj Chopra, will lead the country’s challenge at the World Athletics Championships from August 19-27 in Budapest. India will send a 28-member contingent to the prestigious event.
Chopra, the Tokyo Olympics javelin gold medallisst, wwon silver at the last World Championships in Eugene, US, last year. Now, the Diamond League champion is aiming at a gold.
Some leading Indian names will not be on the plane to Budapest. Asian record holder shot putter Tajinderpal Singh Toor has pulled out due to a groin injury he suffered during the Asian Championships in July.
Some others want to concentrate on the Asian Games (September 23 to October 8) in Hangzhou. These include National record holder high jumper Tejaswin Shankar, 800m runner K M Chanda and 20km race walker and national record holder Priyanka Goswami.