Very sad to hear. At a time when we need more and more exposures, an event like Asian Games would go missing for the team. India did well to reach quarters last time around and would have liked to see them play. Would have been good opportunity for a lot of youngstars.
Asian Games: Trouble brewing over wrestling body’s exemption to Sushil Kumar & Co.
Wrestling Federation of India is likely to exempt three categories from selection trials, making it easy for Sushil Kumar, Vinesh Phogat and Bajrang Punia to represent India at Asian Games.
Hundreds of athletes, many of them doing little to shore up India’s fortunes at major quadrennial multi-sport events seem to have pushed the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) into making it tougher for them to don the Indian colours.
In a first, the IOA has now issued a circular to all national sports federations to ensure that they pick the best squad, without leaving any room for criticism, for the Asian Games scheduled from August 18 to September 2 at Jakarta, Indonesia.
In a communication sent by secretary general Rajeev Mehta last week, IOA said in the case of individual events, the athletes selected by the Federation should have met the standard of the sixth place finisher at the 2014 Incheon Asian Games.
“While the sixth place standard will be mandatory for competing in the individual events, the teams should have been in the top 8 of the last Games to make the grade and keep the same quality at present,” sources told TOI. “Even if the teams or athletes meet the guidelines or rankings currently that would be enough.”
Handball, football in a spot of bother?
If the IOA sticks to its guns, then the participation of the Indian handball and football teams is in doubt. “The football and handball teams are nowhere near this mark. The focus will also be on the basketball teams,” they said.
At Incheon, the Indian men’s basketball team finished last in the preliminary round. Competing in Group E, India lost to Iran and Philippines. In the end, they finished joint ninth along with Chinese Taipei, Jordan and Kuwait. The women’s team fared better and ended sixth among 10 teams.
The Indian men’s football team, currently 15th in Asia, had a disappointing outing as it finished 26th among 29 teams which took part. The men’s handball team ended 14th and last while the women’s team was second last among nine teams.
The IOA officials are expected to reiterate their stand during their meeting with federation officials in the next meeting of the preparation committee on May 31. “The meeting has been called to discuss the team size, medal prospects, details of preparation and selection trials amongst others,” sources said.
In a recent meeting, the sports ministry had asked IOA to inform all federations that they may intimate IOA, the date and criteria decided for selecting athletes. “The federations have also been asked to upload these details on their website at least two weeks before the date of the selection,” sources added.
The IOA’s latest initiative is in line with the sports ministry order issued in 2015. The ministry had then asked the IOA to formulate the guidelines and ensure that only eligible candidates were included in the contingent even if they are participating at no cost to the government.
The last date for submitting entry by name for the Jakarta Games is June 30.
Medal prospect high jumper Tejaswin Shankar pulls out of Asian Games 2018
In a blow to India's medal hopes in the Asian Games, national record holder high jumper Tejaswin Shankar has pulled out of the multi-sporting event, citing "tightness" on his neck.
In a blow to India’s medal hopes in the Asian Games, national record holder high jumper Tejaswin Shankar has pulled out of the multi-sporting event, citing “tightness” on his neck.
The 19-year-old Delhi athlete, who studies business administration at the Kansas State University on a four-year scholarship, has informed about his decision to the Athletics Federation of India.
“He has sent us a short mail informing us that he will not be able to compete in the Asian Games. He said in the mail that he has tightness on his neck,” AFI Secretary C K Valson told PTI.
“Since neck plays an important role in high jump, I think he has taken the desion to pull out of the Games. He is a medal contender, so it is a blow for us and the country,” he added.
Tejaswin cleared 2.28m in March during the Federation Cup National Championships in Pataila to set a new national record, bettering his own mark of 2.26m set two years ago. He then had 2.29m in a meet at Texas in US last month.
The bronze winner in the 2014 Incheon Asian Games had cleared 2.25m.
Asian Games: IOA plans to finalise a list of over 600 athletes as part of a 900-member contingent
For the Incheon Games in 2014, India had sent 541 athletes and won 57 medals across 28 disciplines.
The Indian Olympic Association (IOA) is planning on finalising a mega 900-member contingent from the provisional list of 2370 for the upcoming Asian Games in Indonesia from August 18-September 2.
IOA president Narinder Batra and secretary general Rajeev Mehta are confident that a final list of 620-plus athletes and approximately 273 officials across disciplines will be allowed for the quadrennial extravaganza.
“As per provisional list, there are 1938 athletes, 399 officials (including support staff), eight from IOA, seven from Sports ministry and 18 from Sports Authority of India (SAI) in the list of 2370. We have time till June 30 to prune the list,” Batra told media on Saturday.
Mehta on his part informed that it will be pruned to 900 after consultation with the ministry.
“We are expecting that the final list will be of 620-plus athletes and 273 officials,”Mehta said at the sidelines of programme.
For the Incheon Games in 2014, India had sent 541 athletes and won 57 medals across 28 disciplines.
While the ministry can veto such a big contingent, the IOA on its part has set a selection criteria for the Games.
“For individual sport, the criteria is a top-six finish and in team sport it is a top-eight finish (as per last Asian Games in Incheon, South Korea) will be eligible for selection,” Batra said.
There are four de-recognised/suspended National Sports Federations (NSFs) – taekwondo, golf, gymnastics and archery – where ad-hoc committee will select the teams and there will be a scrutiny committee, which will address any dispute in selection matters.
“Indian Golf Union (IGU) have a meeting for amendment of their constitution on June 6. The IOA will have its observer. If all goes well, then IGU can select its squad for the Asian Games,” Mehta told PTI.
There was some good news for the All India Football Federation (AIFF) as India’s improved performance in international arena over the past year has improved their chances of getting the nod for the U-23 event in Indonesia.
“India’s Fifa rankings have improved and they have qualified for the Asian Championship (Asian Cup). They are currently No 16 in Asia but let’s hope that they make it,” Mehta said.
On the matter of allocating associate membership of IOA for a particular fee (Rs 2.5 lakh), Mehta said: “There are a number of little known non-Olympic NSFs, which are affiliated with the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA). Now if we don’t allow them, they might move court. So we need to consult IOC whether these federations can be given associate membership.”
This will be 5th Asian Games for Leander Paes. Medal winner in 1990, 1994, 2002,2006 and now 2018. He skipped 1998, 2010 and 2014 Asian Games otherwise it would have been some sort of a record.
Sad to see that Gymnastics is going down. After Deepa Karmakar performance in Olympics, it was being said that next batch of juniors are even better. Now even participation is in doldrums.
Comments
Asian Games: Trouble brewing over wrestling body’s exemption to Sushil Kumar & Co.
Wrestling Federation of India is likely to exempt three categories from selection trials, making it easy for Sushil Kumar, Vinesh Phogat and Bajrang Punia to represent India at Asian Games.
IOA spells out Asiad selection guidelines
Hundreds of athletes, many of them doing little to shore up India’s fortunes at major quadrennial multi-sport events seem to have pushed the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) into making it tougher for them to don the Indian colours.In a first, the IOA has now issued a circular to all national sports federations to ensure that they pick the best squad, without leaving any room for criticism, for the Asian Games scheduled from August 18 to September 2 at Jakarta, Indonesia.
In a communication sent by secretary general Rajeev Mehta last week, IOA said in the case of individual events, the athletes selected by the Federation should have met the standard of the sixth place finisher at the 2014 Incheon Asian Games.
“While the sixth place standard will be mandatory for competing in the individual events, the teams should have been in the top 8 of the last Games to make the grade and keep the same quality at present,” sources told TOI. “Even if the teams or athletes meet the guidelines or rankings currently that would be enough.”
Handball, football in a spot of bother?
If the IOA sticks to its guns, then the participation of the Indian handball and football teams is in doubt. “The football and handball teams are nowhere near this mark. The focus will also be on the basketball teams,” they said.
At Incheon, the Indian men’s basketball team finished last in the preliminary round. Competing in Group E, India lost to Iran and Philippines. In the end, they finished joint ninth along with Chinese Taipei, Jordan and Kuwait. The women’s team fared better and ended sixth among 10 teams.
The Indian men’s football team, currently 15th in Asia, had a disappointing outing as it finished 26th among 29 teams which took part. The men’s handball team ended 14th and last while the women’s team was second last among nine teams.
The IOA officials are expected to reiterate their stand during their meeting with federation officials in the next meeting of the preparation committee on May 31. “The meeting has been called to discuss the team size, medal prospects, details of preparation and selection trials amongst others,” sources said.
In a recent meeting, the sports ministry had asked IOA to inform all federations that they may intimate IOA, the date and criteria decided for selecting athletes. “The federations have also been asked to upload these details on their website at least two weeks before the date of the selection,” sources added.
The IOA’s latest initiative is in line with the sports ministry order issued in 2015. The ministry had then asked the IOA to formulate the guidelines and ensure that only eligible candidates were included in the contingent even if they are participating at no cost to the government.
The last date for submitting entry by name for the Jakarta Games is June 30.
Medal prospect high jumper Tejaswin Shankar pulls out of Asian Games 2018
In a blow to India's medal hopes in the Asian Games, national record holder high jumper Tejaswin Shankar has pulled out of the multi-sporting event, citing "tightness" on his neck.
In a blow to India’s medal hopes in the Asian Games, national record holder high jumper Tejaswin Shankar has pulled out of the multi-sporting event, citing “tightness” on his neck.
The 19-year-old Delhi athlete, who studies business administration at the Kansas State University on a four-year scholarship, has informed about his decision to the Athletics Federation of India.
“He has sent us a short mail informing us that he will not be able to compete in the Asian Games. He said in the mail that he has tightness on his neck,” AFI Secretary C K Valson told PTI.
“Since neck plays an important role in high jump, I think he has taken the desion to pull out of the Games. He is a medal contender, so it is a blow for us and the country,” he added.
Tejaswin cleared 2.28m in March during the Federation Cup National Championships in Pataila to set a new national record, bettering his own mark of 2.26m set two years ago. He then had 2.29m in a meet at Texas in US last month.
The bronze winner in the 2014 Incheon Asian Games had cleared 2.25m.
Asian Games: IOA plans to finalise a list of over 600 athletes as part of a 900-member contingent
For the Incheon Games in 2014, India had sent 541 athletes and won 57 medals across 28 disciplines.
The Indian Olympic Association (IOA) is planning on finalising a mega 900-member contingent from the provisional list of 2370 for the upcoming Asian Games in Indonesia from August 18-September 2.
IOA president Narinder Batra and secretary general Rajeev Mehta are confident that a final list of 620-plus athletes and approximately 273 officials across disciplines will be allowed for the quadrennial extravaganza.
“As per provisional list, there are 1938 athletes, 399 officials (including support staff), eight from IOA, seven from Sports ministry and 18 from Sports Authority of India (SAI) in the list of 2370. We have time till June 30 to prune the list,” Batra told media on Saturday.
Mehta on his part informed that it will be pruned to 900 after consultation with the ministry.
“We are expecting that the final list will be of 620-plus athletes and 273 officials,”Mehta said at the sidelines of programme.
For the Incheon Games in 2014, India had sent 541 athletes and won 57 medals across 28 disciplines.
While the ministry can veto such a big contingent, the IOA on its part has set a selection criteria for the Games.
“For individual sport, the criteria is a top-six finish and in team sport it is a top-eight finish (as per last Asian Games in Incheon, South Korea) will be eligible for selection,” Batra said.
There are four de-recognised/suspended National Sports Federations (NSFs) – taekwondo, golf, gymnastics and archery – where ad-hoc committee will select the teams and there will be a scrutiny committee, which will address any dispute in selection matters.
“Indian Golf Union (IGU) have a meeting for amendment of their constitution on June 6. The IOA will have its observer. If all goes well, then IGU can select its squad for the Asian Games,” Mehta told PTI.
There was some good news for the All India Football Federation (AIFF) as India’s improved performance in international arena over the past year has improved their chances of getting the nod for the U-23 event in Indonesia.
“India’s Fifa rankings have improved and they have qualified for the Asian Championship (Asian Cup). They are currently No 16 in Asia but let’s hope that they make it,” Mehta said.
On the matter of allocating associate membership of IOA for a particular fee (Rs 2.5 lakh), Mehta said: “There are a number of little known non-Olympic NSFs, which are affiliated with the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA). Now if we don’t allow them, they might move court. So we need to consult IOC whether these federations can be given associate membership.”
The Equestrian Federation of India (EFI) has selected a seven-member team for the Asian Games to compete in eventing and show jumping.
Three-time Asiad bronze medallist Rajesh Pattu, Fouaad Mirza, Jitender Singh and Rakesh Kumar have been selected to compete in eventing.
Their selection was based on their performances in international and national events, apart from trials, .
The Setalvad brothers, Keavan and Zahan, along with Chetan Reddy have been chosen for show jumping.
EFI secretary-general, Col. RK Swain, stated that a dressage team could not be selected as none of the riders qualified for the same.
http://www.thehindu.com/sport/other-sports/gymnasts-sweat-over-administrative-imbroglio/article24081325.ece
Gymnasts sweat over administrative imbroglio
Pre-CWG drama set to repeat itself before Asian Games