India have won one medal, bronze, at the ongoing World University Games in Rhine-Ruhr, Germany, but it is tinged with controversy. The medal came in mixed team badminton, with India losing to Chinese Taipei in the semifinals. Twelve players had been chosen to represent India but only six could play and stand on the podium.
Alisha Khan, one of the players who were left out, wrote on her Instagram handle that half of the squad couldn’t play because officials from the Indian team made a gaffe while submitting their names. “They only submitted 6, forgetting the rest,” she wrote.
“As per FISU rules, 12 players are allowed—we were all eligible. We traveled, we trained, we sacrificed, and yet we were denied the chance to even participate.”
Alisha further wrote that this was “career sabotage” and not just mismanagement. “We demand answers, accountability, and that our voices be heard. We didn’t lose a match – we lost our right to even participate,” she wrote Alisha.
Association of Indian University secretary Dr. Pankaj Mittal told PTI that the matter is being investigated but declined from making any further comments. “We have been informed about this and the matter is being investigated,” he is quoted as saying by the news agency, which further reports that this wasn’t just an error but stemmed from systematic irregularities.
Saneeth Dayanand, Sathish Kumar Karunakaran, Devika Sihag, Tasnim Mir, Varshini Viswanath Sri, and Vaishnavi Khadkekar were the six who competed in the mixed team event. India defeated Macau but lost to Hong Kong in the group stage, then beat the USA in the round of 16 and Malaysia in the quarterfinals before losing to Chinese Taipei in the semifinals.
Rohan Kumar, Darshan Pujari, Aditi Bhatt, Abhinash Mohanty, Viraj Kuvale, and Alisha Khan were part of the 12-member squad but did not get to play. Pujari has written to the Badminton Association of India (BAI), demanding a thorough investigation.
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“This level of mismanagement has caused significant emotional distress to the affected athletes, especially when Team India went on to win a historic medal at the Games. The players who were left out of the nomination list have been unfairly denied the chance to contribute on the field and be acknowledged as part of this achievement,” he wrote in his email, according to PTI.
“To date, there has been no accountability or concrete explanation provided by the managers. A mere apology cannot suffice at this level of international representation, where the careers, dreams, and morale of athletes are at stake. Through this email, I respectfully urge the concerned authorities to take this matter seriously, conduct a thorough review, and ensure that such avoidable and damaging incidents are never repeated in the future.”
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