New Delhi, May 16: The participation of India’s top gymnasts, including Dipa Karmakar and Rakesh Patra, at the Asia Championship has been thrown into jeopardy after the Sports Authority of India (SAI) called selection trials on May 17.
SAI, on Tuesday night, had announced that the selection trials to pick the team for the Asian Championships, scheduled to be held at Mongolia from June 19 to 22, will be held on May 17 at the IG Stadium.
The selection trials are not open but limited to just 8-10 gymnasts, who were selected for the National Coaching Camp during the trials conducted by SAI on April 12 and 13, the Gymnastics Federation of India (GFI) said.
Besides Dipa and Patra, other top level Indian gymnasts such as Aruna Reddy, Siddharth Verma and Aditya Rana might not even be allowed to show their abilities.
Over 12 top level gymnasts have already written to SAI, Sports Ministry and GFI, expressing concerns regarding the trials.
The federation Wednesday had also written a strongly-worded letter to SAI, questioning the eligibility of the gymnasts participating in the trials, the short notice given to conduct them, the qualification of the appointed judges and the overall selection criteria. (PTI)
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