The Athletics Federation of India (AFI) on Saturday announced a 25-member contingent for the 18th Commonwealth Games starting in Melbourne on March 15.

The AFI's Selection Committee met in Delhi over two days and announced the names after great deliberation. The 12th Federation Cup was used as selection trials for the mega event.

The team, which consists of 10 men and 15 women athletes, would leave for Melbourne on March 9.

Anju Bobby George would be going for gold in women's long jump while there would be three Indian representatives in heptathlon - Soma Biswas, Sushmita Singha Roy and J J Shobha.

Pinki Pramanik would challenge in both the women's 800m and the 4x400m relay.

Among the men, Ghamanda Ram would be eyeing a medal in 800m while Vikas Gowda will compete in discus throw and shot put. Jora Singh, who set a national record in decathlon at the Federation Cup, also finds a place in the team.

Team:

Men: Ghamanda Ram (800m), Vikas Gowda (Discus & Shot Put), Jora Singh (Decathlon), P S Jalan (20 KM Walk)

Women: Manjeet Kaur, Chitra K Soman, Sathi Geetha, Pinki Pramanik, Rajwinder Kaur Gill, Ashiq Beevi (all 4 x 400m Relay), Pinki Pramanik (also in 800m), O P Jaisha (1,500m), Seema Antil and Krishna Punia (Discus throw), Anju Bobby George (Long Jump), Sushmita Singha Roy, Soma Biswas and J J Shobha (all Heptathlon), Deep Mala Devi (20 KM Walk).

The men's 4x400 relay contingent has also been provisionally selected but they will make it to Melbourne only if they record a timing below 3:04 seconds together as they had not been able to run as a team so far.

The team consists of Bhupinder Singh, P Shankar, S Srinivas, Satbir Singh, Kuldev Singh and Srijith Sridharan.

In addition, Harwant Kaur can also compete in the discus throw at the mega event if she records a good mark on March 12.

She got injured before the event at the Federation Cup and could not complete her throws. As she was doing well, the Selection Committee provided her another chance to make it to the Commonwealth Games.