Women’s sabre team, which includes Bhavani, not cleared
NEW DELHI: Indian men’s weightlifting team comprising Birmingham CWG gold medallist Achinta Sheuli and N Ajith, women’s fencing squad with CA Bhavani Devi as its member and a host of disciplines like modern pentathlon, triathlon and taekwondo have been dropped from the Indian contingent for the upcoming Asian Games in Hangzhou.
They all failed to fulfill the sports ministry’s selection criteria which states that athletes’ performance in individual events during the last 12 months “should not fall below the performance achieved by the eighth position holder in the 2018 Asian Games”.
Similarly, several other athletes have missed out on Asiad participation, notably in tennis, basketball and handball events. In weightlifting, only the women’s team of Saikhom Mirabai Chanu (49kg) and Bindiyarani Devi (55kg) has been cleared for the Games. Rejecting the men’s team’s participation, the ministry noted: “Sheuli (73kg) lifted 305kg in Asian Championships held in May 2023 and N Ajith (73kg) lifted 307kg. Also, in selection trials held on June 30 2023, Sheuli lifted a lesser weight (305kg) than Ajith (310kg) in the same weight category. Hence, Sheuli may not be recommended considering recent performances.”
In Birmingham, Sheuli had set a Games record of 313kg after lifting 143kg in snatch and 170kg in clean & jerk for a total of 313kg en route to his golden finish.
In the case of modern pentathlon, the ministry received a list of five (4 men and 1 woman) players for selection to the final Indian contingent. These include Mayank Vaibhav Chaphekar, Basant Tomar, Rahul Kathuria and Sameer Krishna and Reeta Devi in women’s individual event.
The ministry contended: “For men’s and women’s teams, there are no recent performances and the points of selection trials are less than that of 8th position of Asian Games 2018. Accordingly, the criterion set out is not met and hence not recommended.” The same criteria was applied while rejecting the entire contingent in triathlon and taekwondo disciplines.
Similarly, the men’s handball team wasn’t recommended since “it secured 15th position in the men’s handball Asian Championship 2022”. The men’s 5×5 basketball team was also not considered for final selection after it was found to be ranked 15th amongst the participating countries of Asia. Only women’s 5×5 and men’s and women’s 3×3 basketball teams were given the final go ahead.
In tennis, the ministry had received names of 12 players (6 men and 6 women) in singles, doubles and mixed double events for the Asiad. Out of them, names of Sasikumar Mukund in men’s singles and Sahaja Yamalapalli and Vaidehi Chaudhari in women’s singles/mixed doubles weren’t considered for selection.
In fencing, the men’s epee, women’s foil and both men’s and women’s sabre teams were dropped for not fulfilling the ministry’s criteria. The women’s sabre team had the face of Indian fencing, Bhavani Devi, along with Josna Christy Jose, Rishika Khajuria and Jagmeet Kaur. However, Bhavani will represent the country in women’s individual sabre.
In Ji-jitsu, the ministry cleared a six-member team after receiving entries of 16 players (8 men and 8 women) in individual events.
NEW DELHI: Indian men’s weightlifting team comprising Birmingham CWG gold medallist Achinta Sheuli and N Ajith, women’s fencing squad with CA Bhavani Devi as its member and a host of disciplines like modern pentathlon, triathlon and taekwondo have been dropped from the Indian contingent for the upcoming Asian Games in Hangzhou.
They all failed to fulfill the sports ministry’s selection criteria which states that athletes’ performance in individual events during the last 12 months “should not fall below the performance achieved by the eighth position holder in the 2018 Asian Games”.
Similarly, several other athletes have missed out on Asiad participation, notably in tennis, basketball and handball events. In weightlifting, only the women’s team of Saikhom Mirabai Chanu (49kg) and Bindiyarani Devi (55kg) has been cleared for the Games. Rejecting the men’s team’s participation, the ministry noted: “Sheuli (73kg) lifted 305kg in Asian Championships held in May 2023 and N Ajith (73kg) lifted 307kg. Also, in selection trials held on June 30 2023, Sheuli lifted a lesser weight (305kg) than Ajith (310kg) in the same weight category. Hence, Sheuli may not be recommended considering recent performances.”
In Birmingham, Sheuli had set a Games record of 313kg after lifting 143kg in snatch and 170kg in clean & jerk for a total of 313kg en route to his golden finish.
In the case of modern pentathlon, the ministry received a list of five (4 men and 1 woman) players for selection to the final Indian contingent. These include Mayank Vaibhav Chaphekar, Basant Tomar, Rahul Kathuria and Sameer Krishna and Reeta Devi in women’s individual event.
The ministry contended: “For men’s and women’s teams, there are no recent performances and the points of selection trials are less than that of 8th position of Asian Games 2018. Accordingly, the criterion set out is not met and hence not recommended.” The same criteria was applied while rejecting the entire contingent in triathlon and taekwondo disciplines.
Similarly, the men’s handball team wasn’t recommended since “it secured 15th position in the men’s handball Asian Championship 2022”. The men’s 5×5 basketball team was also not considered for final selection after it was found to be ranked 15th amongst the participating countries of Asia. Only women’s 5×5 and men’s and women’s 3×3 basketball teams were given the final go ahead.
In tennis, the ministry had received names of 12 players (6 men and 6 women) in singles, doubles and mixed double events for the Asiad. Out of them, names of Sasikumar Mukund in men’s singles and Sahaja Yamalapalli and Vaidehi Chaudhari in women’s singles/mixed doubles weren’t considered for selection.
In fencing, the men’s epee, women’s foil and both men’s and women’s sabre teams were dropped for not fulfilling the ministry’s criteria. The women’s sabre team had the face of Indian fencing, Bhavani Devi, along with Josna Christy Jose, Rishika Khajuria and Jagmeet Kaur. However, Bhavani will represent the country in women’s individual sabre.
In Ji-jitsu, the ministry cleared a six-member team after receiving entries of 16 players (8 men and 8 women) in individual events.