Navi Mumbai: Navi Mumbai-based athletes Aditya Pisal and Rudra Shinde were picked in Team India to represent the country at the ensuing Junior Asian Athletics Championship scheduled to be held in Hong Kong between May 28 and 31. The selection of the duo in the national squad came through their sterling performances at the just-held 24th National Junior (Under-20) Athletics Championship-2026 at Bengaluru.Both athletes will take part in the 4×100-metre relay race at the Asian Championship, and Shinde will also compete in the 200-metre sprint event. Both represented Maharashtra state at the National Junior (Under-20) Athletics Championship. Shinde bagged a bronze medal in the 200-metre race, clocking his personal best timing of 21.26 seconds while creating a new state record in the under-20 category. He finished sixth in the 100-metre sprint with an elapsed time of 10.59 seconds.Pisal bettered his performance by finishing the 100-metre sprint in 10.51 seconds and narrowly slipped from the medal bracket. Both have impressive records in the domestic circle that propelled them to prove their mettle at the higher-level competition.“Both undergoing training at the Agnel Gymkhana, Vashi, performed well at the junior nationals, which catapulted them to participate at the Asian Championship later this month. While Shinde has the luck to participate in two events like 4×100-metre relay and 200-metre sprint, Pisal has qualified for the 4×100-metre relay race. It’s a great honour to have found their names in Team India. I hope both will have a gala time at the Hong Kong show since they are undergoing vigorous training at the Agnel facility in a run-up to the international meet,” said their coach Srinivas Gupta.
