HC backs player caught in age row, asks badminton body to consider him for Myanmar tournament

“Even TW-3 test leaves a margin of six months to one year while assessing the age. Prima facie, this court feels that such (TW-3) assessment cannot determine the exact date of birth of a person,” observed Justice Rajan Gupta during the hearing of the case on Friday. “This court feels that irreparable loss may be caused to the petitioner in case he is restrained at this stage from participating along with Indian National Badminton Team.”

Goury’s father Dr Gopal Singh and his counsels told the court that 17-year-old has participated three times in various tournaments at the state and national level. He had also presented his school certificates from Nursery onwards before the court to establish that he is below 17 years of age.

The court’s comments on the TW-3 method cannot be concluded as a judgment on the widely-used test in sports as same are subject to a final order in the case.

TW-3 is a bone age determination test and has earlier also come under question in selection of cricketers at under-16 level.