NEW DELHI: The list of coaches and support personnel who will accompay the Indian contingent to the Asian Games in Hangzhou continues to change. The Sports Authority of India (SAI) has withdrawn the accreditation of some male coaches and physiotherapists to ensure more female staff member accompany the delegation.
Several disciplines — including chess, sport climbing, roller skating, kurash, wushu, soft tennis and swimming — have seen recommendations of their male support staff being rejected by the country’s sports administrators after they failed to nominate at least one female coach/compliance officer, as mandated by SAI, with their respective squads.
In swimming, Janki Rajesh Kumar from the athletics contingent has been roped in to double up as a female physiotherapist in the four-member male coaching staff. Similarly, Shirin Rai, who is part of the 14-member delegation of the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) travelling to the Games, has been attached as a female physiotherapist with the soft tennis team, with the accreditation of male coach, Pramod Singh Thakur, withdrawn.
In chess, a female coach has been pooled from the IOA’s long list to accompany the three-member male coaching staff, while Ravindra Banshthu – a volleyball team official – has been attached as female team manager with the sport climbing discipline.
In roller skating, Nagma Saifi, a female support staff with fencing, has replaced male coach Himanshu Sharma, whose accreditation has been withdrawn. In kurash, female coach Sukhwinder Saini has been accommodated in place of male coach-cum-referee Chander Pal Saini. Sukhwinder will be the lone team official travelling with the kurash team.
In wushu, too, female physiotherapist Ananya Mandal has been roped in to replace physio Raghunandan Saini.
The only exception has been made for the bridge discipline with SAI noting that out of nine female athletes, only two are below 25 years of age and others are 55+ years with a lot of exposure in international events.
“As per the list of team officials provided by the sports ministry, a total of four team officials were nominated by the Bridge Federation of India (BFI). A total of nine male and nine female bridge players were recommended by SAI as part of the Asian Games contingent. However, the list of team officials nominated by the NSF does not comprise any female coach/support staff. The submission given by the BFI was found to be justified as the senior female players are well placed in terms of age and experience to ensure the safety of other young fellow female players in the team. Hence, exemption was granted,” SAI clarified.
