Annu Rani will not defend her javelin throw title after she was dropped from India’s athletics squad for the Asian Games 2026 on Friday after failing to meet the qualification mark set by the Athletics Federation of India (AFI).
India had initially named 77 athletes for the Asian Games in Aichi-Nagoya, scheduled from September 19 to October 4, but the squad was trimmed further after Thursday’s Indian Athletics Series Final, which served as the selection trial.
Long jumper Shahnavaz Khan and sprinter Nithya Gandhe were the other two Indian athletes omitted from the squad due to performance and medical-related reasons.
“Annu did not achieve qualification mark (set by the AFI) in the final trial, hence not selected for the Asian Games,” AFI Selection Committee chairman Adille Sumariwalla told PTI. “Nithya and Shahnavaz will not go for Asian Games due to poor performance and medical reasons.”
The Indian women’s javelin qualification mark for the Asian Games was 57.62m, but Annu Rani failed to breach the standard in any of her competitions this season. She came closest at Thursday’s Indian Athletics Series Final, where she threw 57.50m, falling just 12 centimetres short of the mark.
Two-time Olympian Annu Rani won the women’s javelin throw gold at the previous edition of the Asian Games with a throw of 62.92m.
She had previously won bronze in the event at the 2014 Asian Games in Incheon, the Republic of Korea, before becoming the first Indian woman to win a javelin gold at Hangzhou 2023.
Annu Rani is also the national record holder in women’s javelin having logged a 63.82m effort at the Indian Open Javelin Throw Competition in 2022.
Annu’s exclusion from the squad now means that neither of the defending Asian Games javelin champions will compete in Aichi-Nagoya.
Two-time Olympic medallist Neeraj Chopra, the men’s champion, had earlier withdrawn due to a ligament tear.
The javelin throws events at the 2026 Asian Games will take place from September 26 to 28.
