Eighteen Indians, led by star javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra, have qualified for next month`s World Athletics Championships in Tokyo either through direct entry or world rankings, with long jumper Murali Sreeshankar making the cut at the last minute. But heptathlete Nandini Agasara, who qualified for the September 13-21 showpiece by virtue of being the Asian champion, has told PTI that she is not competing as she has not fully recovered from an elbow injury.

That will bring down the number to 17. Sreeshankar, who missed the 2024 Olympics due to a knee surgery despite qualifying, made it to the list of 36 long jumpers who are to compete in Tokyo, taking the last spot after World Athletics (WA) updated the rankings on Wednesday. After returning to action in July, Sreeshankar has won five competitions on the trot with his best being 8.13m while winning gold at the World Athletics Continental Tour bronze-level event in Bhubaneswar on August 10.

He, though, failed to breach the automatic qualification mark of 8.27m. Pooja (women`s 1500m), Sarvesh Anil Kushare (men`s high jump) and Ankita Dhyani (women`s 3000m steeplechase) also made the cut in the latest World Athletics update. The deadline for qualification was August 24 after which the WA updated the list of Road to Tokyo. An athlete can automatically qualify for the World Championships by breaching the qualification mark. The remaining slots required to fill up the total entry number for each event pre-determined by World Athletics will be handed through world ranking quota. It is now up to the Athletics Federation of India (AFI) to name the team, and its selection committee will meet on Thursday for the purpose.