Mumbai, Aug 17:
Four Indian shuttlers, two boys and as many girls, are in Nanjing, China to take part in the ongoing Youth Asian Games but are whiling away their time idly in the athletes village as their names have not been included in the badminton draw, it is learnt.
Harsheel Dani (Maharashtra) and Aditya Joshi (Gujarat) are the two boys who had reached the Chinese city hosting the multi-discipline sports event along with the two girls – Rituparna Da (West Bengal) and Reshma Karthik (Karnataka) – yesterday, with the other Indian contingent members.
They are accompanied by a coach hailing from Punjab, sources told PTI.
The Indian contingent numbering around 90 is participating as independent Olympic athletes since the Indian Olympic Association has been debarred by the International Olympic Committee.
Informed sources said today that all four players, whose names are not found in the draw for men’s and women’s singles, are “sitting idle, twiddling their thumbs at the village which is 40kms away from the city centre.”
“They don’t have any practice facilities, don’t have any accreditations and so cannot go to the stadium to practice or even watch the matches. They are sitting idle and are scheduled to return along with the other Indians on August 20 only,” sources said.
Interestingly the official Games website has the names of these four players under the heading ‘Athletes’ though they don’t figure in the badminton draw.
The Games, which began on August 13, feature 17 sports disciplines. (PTI)
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