Gymnastics, Asian Games: Dipa Karmakar hits back at SAI, Sports Ministry over Hangzhou team omission

Indian gymnast Dipa Karmakar, on Tuesday, expressed her disappointment at being dropped from the country’s upcoming Asian Games contingent despite topping the national trials held last month in Bhubaneswar.

“The Asian Games 2023, an event I have eagerly anticipated for the past two years, looks further than it is,” she wrote in a post on social media.

“To my surprise, despite topping the national trials and meeting the Ministry’s selection criteria, it appears that I will be deprived of the opportunity to participate in the Asian Games. ... [these] recent events have proven to be very demotivating and discouraging.”

The 30-year-old, who became the first woman and second Indian to medal at the Commonwealth Games when she won bronze at Glasgow 2014, further alleged that she had been kept in dark about the factors that led to her ommission from the team.

“Worse still, the reasons behind this decision are unknown to me and have not been communicated officially,” Karmakar stated.

“All I ask is for the selection criteria to be applied fairly and consistently across all sports. And request that the correct information be conveyed to us so that we don’t live in uncertainty,” she added.

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