CHENNAI: The Indian squad for the upcoming FIG Artistic Gymnastics World Championships was decided after a seven-member committee conducted the trials just hours before the deadline at the Indira Gandhi Stadium in New Delhi on Monday.
Ashish Kumar, Yogeshwar Singh and Aditya Singh Rana are in the men’s team while Pranati Nayak, Pranati Das and Aruna Buddha Reddy will feature in the women’s class. The squad was selected by a committee formed after the sports ministry took exception to the de-recognised Gymnastics Federation of India (GFI) picking the team. The committee comprised of Indian Olympic Association (IOA) representative Onkar Singh, Narender Singh Mor and Kulwinder Singh representing the two GFI factions, Divya Jeychandren and IS Pabla representing the Sports Authority of India, apart from Kalpana Debnath and Gurdial Singh Bawa.
It is understood that Monday was the deadline for the final squad to be submitted. The Worlds will be an Olympic qualification event as well. The GFI had earlier sent in six tentative names before September 9, the last date for the provisional list to be sent in. Three names from that list did not make the final cut — Debang Dey and Shraddha Talekar did not make the top three while Rakesh Patra did not participate in the trials.
There appears to be light at the end of the tunnel for the troubled GFI with both factions agreeing on a meeting to discuss elections. The annual general body meeting, scheduled for September 24, will see a returning officer appointed. “Both factions have agreed to resolve their issues,” said Mor, vice president of the Sudhakar Shetty faction which is recognised by the Federation Internationale de Gymnastique (FIG). “We had a meeting on Saturday under the leadership of IOA secretary Rajeev Mehta. He played a key role in getting both factions to work together.”
FIG reply to ministry
The sports ministry’s initial stand was that the IOA pick the team and they had written to the FIG, requesting the same. On Monday, the FIG wrote back saying this wasn’t permissible as the GFI led by Shetty still had their approval. “It is also our duty to guarantee the independence of our members and protect them from any interference. This is the reason why we continue to recognise GFI and its president Mr Shetty as the only member from India,” said the letter from FIG secretary general Nicolas Buompane. “The decision of who is part of the delegation at our World Championships...is the only prerogative of our member.”
The IOA had predicted this and expressed their inability to conduct the trials. Ironically, a GFI official revealed that they had followed the same procedure to select teams in the past as well. The GFI had written to the ministry saying they were willing to do that this time too. The ministry though did not yeild until the last minute.