The Athletics Federation of India (AFI) has asked Muhammad Anas, who broke the 400 meters national record en route to a fourth place at the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games, to join the national camp in Patiala after his return from Australia, Hindustan Times reported.
Last year Anas chose to train with his personal coach PB Jaikumar rather than with foreign coach Galina Bukharina. The AFI, according to the report, isn’t keen that Anas follows the same routine to prepare for the Asian Games in August.
“I believe the federation should allow him to train closer to his home town. Besides, changes in the training method could hamper his progress,” Jaikumar told Hindustan Times.
Jaikumar said his ward was nervous while competing for the first time in the final of a multi-sport event.
“Since it was his first final at the international level, he was overawed by the field. He failed to judge the pace in the first 200m.
Instead of 21.2 secs, he clocked 21.6 secs in the first half of the race. It made the difference on the home stretch as he wasn’t able to push hard,” said Jaikumar.
Anas, he said, is capable of participating in prestigious international events like the Diamond League.
“A couple of good races at the international level will certainly add to the confidence and polish Anas’ skills ahead of the Asiad,” he said.
Anas’ improvement in running, Jaikumar attributed to training under one coach. “In the national camp, there is frequent change in the coaching staff,” he added.