Gymnast Dipa Karmakar fears not being part of Asian Games 2023, vents out frustration on recent events

Seasoned Indian gymnast Dipa Karmakar took to social media to vent out her frustration and disappointment due to the uncertainty looming over the selection of the gymnastics team for the upcoming Asian Games 2023, to kick off on September 23in Hangzhou, China.

On Tuesday (Aug 15), Dipa detailed a "demotivating and discouraging" turn of events, claiming that she is fearing missing out on the forthcoming mega event despite topping the selection trials conducted by the Gymnastics Federation of India (GFI) in July.

On July 26, the GFI named a nine-member gymnastics team, including Dipa for the Asian Games following the trials conducted in Bhubaneshwar. However, the twist came whenthe sports ministry reportedly informed the GFI that only two of the nine qualified gymnasts met the selection criteria.

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According to the rule set on July 10, "the performance of the sportspersons should not be less than the performance achieved by the 8th position holder of the 2018 Asian Games in measurable sports in individual events during the last 12 months prior to the commencement of the event".

Despite being at the top of the selection trials, with an all-round score of 47.05, Dipa's name went missing from the final list of athletes.

As the country is busy celebrating another year of Independence, the Rio Olympics star shared her disappointment in a series of posts on X, earlier known as Twitter.

"On this #IndependenceDay, I am using my freedom of speech to discuss recent events that have proven to be very demotivating and discouraging. The #AsianGames2023, an event I have eagerly anticipated for the past two years, looks further than it is."

"To my surprise, despite topping the national trials and meeting the @IndiaSports selection criteria, it appears that I will be deprived of the opportunity to participate in the @19thAGofficial.

"Worse still, the reasons behind this decision are unknown to me and have not been communicated officially. Instead, my fellow gymnasts and I are left to read about our exclusion from the Games in the news and I simply don’t know what to make of it," she added.

It is to be noted that 30-year-old Dipa had put in a request to theSAI for relaxation in the eligibility criteria.

Citing setbacks such as two ACL tears in 2017 and 2019, limited opportunities to compete during the pandemic followed by a 21-month suspension due to a doping violation, the athlete put in a request to get some leeway.

However, no formalcommunication has been receivedfrom the Sports Ministry and SAI.

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