New Delhi, Jul 21 (PTI): The Indian badminton squad faced a major controversy at the World University Games in Rhine-Ruhr, Germany, after a mix-up in the selection process led to six out of twelve players being barred from participating. Although selected to represent India, only half of the team could compete because officials mistakenly failed to submit all the names during the crucial managers' meeting on July 16.
Alisha Khan, one of the excluded players, voiced her frustration on Instagram, saying, "This is not just mismanagement – it's career sabotage. We demand answers, accountability, and that our voices be heard. We didn't lose a match – we lost our right to even participate." She accused the AIU and team officials of negligence that led to what she termed "career sabotage."
The Association of Indian Universities (AIU) acknowledged the situation, with AIU Secretary Dr. Pankaj Mittal confirming an investigation is underway but refusing to give further comments. According to insiders, the issue wasn't a simple error but was rooted in "systematic irregularities" that began with the selection trials at Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology (KIIT), Bhubaneswar.
An informed source disclosed that during the managers' meeting, officials received a list with the names of all 12 players, but failed to carefully verify and confirm the participant details. The source added, "The names of players who hadn't attended trials were there. They came here only to enjoy. In the meeting, they also made a basic mistake. They were supposed to declare which player would play singles, doubles, and mixed, but didn’t process it properly."
Saneeth Dayanand, Sathish Kumar Karunakaran, Devika Sihag, Tasnim Mir, Varshini Viswanath Sri, and Vaishnavi Khadkekar represented India in the mixed team event. Despite the reduced team size, India managed to secure a bronze medal. They beat Macau, USA, and Malaysia but lost to Chinese Taipei in the semifinals.
Meanwhile, Rohan Kumar, Darshan Pujari, Aditi Bhatt, Abhinash Mohanty, Viraj Kuvale, and Alisha Khan were left out of the competition. Darshan Pujari, in a letter to the Badminton Association of India (BAI), demanded a thorough investigation, stating that the mishap caused emotional distress to athletes and deprived them of recognition.
Pujari emphasized that an apology is insufficient, given the international scale of the event and the impact on athletes' careers and morale. He urged authorities to take accountability, conduct a review, and prevent such incidents in the future.
Another player expressed frustration over the lack of accountability, highlighting that while their team won bronze, the exclusion from participation deprived them of a potentially life-changing achievement. They pleaded for the AIU to issue certificates acknowledging all 12 as team members.
In April, selection trials at KIIT saw over 210 participants, including national and international university athletes. Yet again, issues arose, with the successful trial attendees being excluded from the mixed team event.
Sources claim a "blunder" occurred at the managerial meeting where names of only six players were submitted, barring the other six from participating by FISU rules. The oversight was described as a basic error in responsibility management, encompassing failures in entry submission despite confirmations and team travels.
Adding to the woes, the officials reportedly failed in jersey management, leading to significant fines due to incorrect names and missing country identifiers on jerseys, as highlighted by Pujari. The team was penalized 1000 euros per match for these mistakes until proper jerseys were arranged from India in the semifinals.
According to a player, there was no coach, and players coached each other during matches, further underlining the organizational failures.
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