Bengaluru: Seven Indian track and field athletes, including Karnataka’s pole vaulter Sindhushree G, were granted visas in New Delhi on Thursday and flew out to Japan for the Asian Games on Friday morning, confirmed a source privy to the development.
Apart from Sindhushree, the athletes who were granted visas were hammer thrower Praveen Kumar, 200m sprinter Harita Bhadra, discus thrower Sanya Yadav, quartermiler Kiran Pahal, heptathlete Anamika K A and triple jumper Asha Ilango. However, the status of the two coaches’ visas remains unknown.
While the athletes made multiple rounds of the visa office for over 10 days, the main caveat in their clearance was not getting the accreditation from the local organisers of the Asian Games, which begin in Aichi-Nagoya on September 19.
The athletes will join the rest of the track and field contingent in Tsukuba (60- 70 km from Tokyo), where the athletes are undergoing acclimatisation camp before the athletics events begin on September 23.
Earlier, Karnataka high jumper Supriya S B, was granted Japan visa last Tuesday after suffering a similar ordeal and has already joined the camp.