Gymnastics Trials for Asian Games Postponed

Silence for almost a fortnight and now the Gymnastics Federation of India is back with a red alert and has asked the Indian Olympic Association for a postponement of the Asian Games Trials to be held in the capital. Earlier it was supposed to be held on the 24^th of June,’18. However, now it has been rescheduled to be held on the 25^th and 26^th of June, ’18. According to a report in Mail Today, Rahul Bhatnagar, Secretary of Ministry of Youth affairs and Sports has said, “As the IG Stadium comes under the SAI, they have blocked the dates for the trials. We are hopeful the trials will go on well.” So, as per the reports on the daily, the the IOA had communicated around 15 days earlier to the gymnastic body that the trials would be held in the capital on the 24

th of June ‘18. Nevertheless, Rajeev Verma, the General Secretary of GFI, chose to write only on the 21^st of June to Rajeev Mehta, the IOA Secretary asking for a postponement. Also read: Indian gymnastics continue to face the brunt of incessant political drama So, during such a period as of now when the IOA has taken upon itself the job of ensuring only the deserving teams go to the Asian Games in Indonesia which is going to flag off in August this year, it was quite bewildering that the GFI was so late in raising its demand for a change in the dates for the trials. Currently, the National Camp is being held at the IG stadium, So it would have been impossible for the athletes to travel to the Balewadi Sports Complex in Pune for the Trials on the originally scheduled date which was the 24

th of June. As per the report in Mail Today, GFI has also requested IOA for a change in the composition of the selection committee. It now comprises of Sunaina Kumari who is the Chairperson of the committee as well as the Vice President of IOA along with the other members being Inderjeet Singh Pabla, Suresh Sharma and Ram Milan. After the highly disappointing and mishap-created conduction of the gymnastics trials for the Commonwealth Games earlier this year, this is essentially the ice-breaker phase for the reconciliation to happen between the GFI and IOA. Even though the IOA treasurer Anandeshwar Pandey lost his son in the capital on Wednesday night and officials were busy, IOA has got back to the business fast. Narinder Batra, who is the President of IOA told Mail Today on Friday, “In the coming days we will be clearing teams, based purely on merit. The criteria have been fixed and there will be no relaxation for any sport.” The forthcoming trials are very important especially for the budding gymnasts and seasoned pros like Dipa Karmakar, who had missed the Commonwealth Games. As she is slowing getting to back to full fitness, her come back performance will be watched with full interest as she made our nation extremely proud and joyous by finishing fourth in the 2016 Rio Olympics. According to the report in Mail Today, Narinder Batra has said that watching the trials should not be a problem for the media. He told Mail Today, “There is no secrecy involved with it. Even when we have the hockey trials in Bengaluru, its very much open.” Hoping that the ice has already broken between the IOA and GFI, the trails in itself is going to be a red carpet event prior to the Asian Games.