Asian champion Yarraji suffers injury, in big blow to World Championships hopes
Her coach, James Hillier, confirmed that the injury was serious and that they were currently weighing up their next steps. "Unfortunately, she picked up a freak injury to her knee in training. It's pretty bad, so we are assessing our options at the moment," Hillier told PTI.Yarraji is yet to meet the automatic qualification standard of 12.73 seconds for the World Championships in Tokyo this September. However, her 12.96-second performance to retain her Asian title has put her among the top 16 athletes eligible to qualify via the world rankings quota. She is currently placed 12th in that list, but staying within the qualifying bracket would require her to continue competing in ranking events-an increasingly unlikely scenario given her injury and the looming August 24 deadline.advertisementThis is not the first injury setback for Yarraji. She missed part of last season due to a hip flexor injury sustained during a training stint in Finland after the Paris Olympics. In an effort to avoid further strain this year, she reverted to her original eight-stride approach in the 100m hurdles, moving away from the more demanding seven-stride technique.Her comeback had been impressive. She bagged double gold (100m hurdles and 200m) at the Uttarakhand National Games in February, topped the podium at the Federation Cup, and successfully defended her Asian title. Her most recent win came at the Taiwan Athletics Open on 7 June."Injuries are part of an athlete's journey," she said. "I'm viewing this as just another hurdle I'm going to overcome soon with all your support and blessings. I'll be back stronger."Whether or not India's fastest hurdler makes it to Tokyo will depend on her recovery timeline and if she's fit to compete before the qualification window closes. For now, it's a waiting game—off the track.- Ends
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