3 min readMumbaiAug 17, 2013 05:01 AM IST
First published on: Aug 17, 2013 at 05:01 AM IST
Laxity on the part of the Badminton Association of India BAI officials may result in Indian shuttlers being booted out of the second Asian Youth Games that got underway in Nanjing,China,on Friday. The names of the four Indian players was missing from the official draw of the event after the BAI failed to send their entries on time.
Sources said the BAI was caught up with the Indian Badminton League IBL and hence failed to keep up with the June 25 deadline to send a final list of players. Consequently,the organisers of the Nanjing Asian Youth Games have not included Indian shuttlers for the competition,which gets underway on Saturday. The Indian team comprised Harshil Dani,Aditya Joshi,Rituparna Das and Reshma Kartika with Surinder Mahajan as the coach. The squad left for Nanjing on Thursday.
Missing from list
However,upon reaching the venue on Friday,they found their names missing from the official list. The four players arrived at the venue with the coach on Friday to get a feel of the place and possibly a practice round. However,they were informed by the organisers that their entries were not sent in time by the BAI and hence could not participate in the tournament, a source said.
The deadline for submitting entries for the Youth Games was June 25. However,BAI was busy with the IBL and hence failed to send the names on time.
India are participating in the Asian Youth Games under the Olympic flag as the country is suspended by the International Olympic Committee. The official draw,published on the Badminton Asia website,does not feature the name of any Indian players.
Strong denial
BAI vice-president TPS Puri denied that such an incident took place. The players watched the IBL matches in Delhi on Thursday night and took a flight to Nanjing later. Everything from the registration to accommodation went on smoothly today without any confusion. There was no problem whatsoever, Puri said.
However,it is learnt that the BAI is going to plead for an exemption and ask for a redraw at a special meeting in Nanjing before the start of the badminton matches on Saturday. BAI officials are confident of getting an exemption. Thats the only way Indian shuttlers can take part in the tournament, the source said.
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