Senior weightlifters including defending champion Mirabai Chanu, Sathish Sivalingam and Venkat Rahul Ragala will miss this year's World Championship opting to continue their rehabilitation program instead.
The World Championship is one of the ten qualifying events for the 2020 Japan Olympics. India will be fielding its B team, consisting junior lifters, in the event scheduled to be held in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan from November 1.
"Senior players have not had the time to rest since the Commonwealth Games in April. After the CWG, they were supposed to attend a rehabilitation camp but things didn't go as per plan," National coach Vijay Sharma said.
"We need to focus on qualifying for the Olympics. It is important to set the team well. The lifters need to go through proper rehab before participating in any event," Sharma said.
The senior players will be seen in action at the Asian C’ship in China in April next year.
"We are required to participate in any six of the 10 qualifying events. World c’ship is just one of them. After the World C’ship, the next event will be the Asian C’ship in China next year. We are targeting that event now."
