CWG champion weightlifter Achinta Sheuli dropped from Asian Games team

Indian men’s weightlifters Achinta Shuli and N Ajith, who won gold medals at the Birmingham CWG, and the women’s fencing team, comprising CA Bhavani Devi, have been dropped from the Indian contingent for the upcoming Asian Games in Hangzhou, China. Has been given.

All of them failed to meet the selection criteria of the Sports Ministry. Which states that the performance of athletes in individual events during the preceding 12 months “should not be below the performance achieved by the eighth place holder at the 2018 Asian Games”.

Similarly, several other athletes have missed out on participating in the Asiad. Especially in tennis, basketball and handball events. In weightlifting, only the women’s team of Mirabai Chanu (49kg) and Bindiarani Devi (55kg) has been cleared for the Games. While ruling out the participation of the men’s team, the ministry said: “Shuli (73kg) lifted 305kg and N Ajith (73kg) lifted 307kg in the Asian Championships to be held in May 2023. Further, on 30 June 2023 In the selection trials held, Shuli lifted less weight. 305 kg as compared to Ajit (310 kg) in the same weight category. Hence, considering the recent performances, Shuli cannot be recommended.”

In Birmingham, Sheuli set a Games record of 313 kg with a total lift of 143 kg in the snatch and 170 kg in the clean and jerk. In the case of modern pentathlon, the ministry received a list of five (4 men and 1 woman) players for selection in the final Indian contingent. These include Mayank Vaibhav Chapekar, Basant Tomar, Rahul Kathuria and Sameer Krishna and Rita Devi in ​​the women’s individual event.

The ministry argued, “For men’s and women’s teams, there is no recent performance and marks in the selection trial below 8th position in Asian Games 2018. The prescribed criteria are not met and hence not recommended.” Note that, in the triathlon and taekwondo disciplines, the same criteria were applied when rejecting the entire team.