
Six Indians miss out on World University Games medal due to alleged gaffe by officials
Alisha Khan, one of the players who were left out, wrote on her Instagram handle that half of the squad couldn't play because officials from the Indian team made a gaffe while submitting their names. 'They only submitted 6, forgetting the rest,' she wrote.
'As per FISU rules, 12 players are allowed—we were all eligible. We traveled, we trained, we sacrificed, and yet we were denied the chance to even participate.'
Alisha further wrote that this was 'career sabotage' and not just mismanagement. 'We demand answers, accountability, and that our voices be heard. We didn't lose a match – we lost our right to even participate,' she wrote Alisha.
Association of Indian University secretary Dr. Pankaj Mittal told PTI that the matter is being investigated but declined from making any further comments. 'We have been informed about this and the matter is being investigated,' he is quoted as saying by the news agency, which further reports that this wasn't just an error but stemmed from systematic irregularities.
Saneeth Dayanand, Sathish Kumar Karunakaran, Devika Sihag, Tasnim Mir, Varshini Viswanath Sri, and Vaishnavi Khadkekar were the six who competed in the mixed team event. India defeated Macau but lost to Hong Kong in the group stage, then beat the USA in the round of 16 and Malaysia in the quarterfinals before losing to Chinese Taipei in the semifinals.
Rohan Kumar, Darshan Pujari, Aditi Bhatt, Abhinash Mohanty, Viraj Kuvale, and Alisha Khan were part of the 12-member squad but did not get to play. Pujari has written to the Badminton Association of India (BAI), demanding a thorough investigation.
'This level of mismanagement has caused significant emotional distress to the affected athletes, especially when Team India went on to win a historic medal at the Games. The players who were left out of the nomination list have been unfairly denied the chance to contribute on the field and be acknowledged as part of this achievement,' he wrote in his email, according to PTI.
'To date, there has been no accountability or concrete explanation provided by the managers. A mere apology cannot suffice at this level of international representation, where the careers, dreams, and morale of athletes are at stake. Through this email, I respectfully urge the concerned authorities to take this matter seriously, conduct a thorough review, and ensure that such avoidable and damaging incidents are never repeated in the future.'
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


Indian Express
26 minutes ago
- Indian Express
Flat Jasprit Bumrah, tired Mohammed Siraj, nervy Kamboj, how India's nightmarish day unfolded at Old Trafford
India could blame the weather but that would still sound like an excuse. When England bowled in the morning, there was cloud cover and rain. Late in the afternoon when Indians got the ball in hand there was bright sunlight. Data also showed that the swing and seam movement dropped drastically as the day progressed. Indian pacers surely didn't get favourable conditions but they didn't help their cause by having their worst day of the tour. Pedestrian first spells by the entire pace unit helped England to pull away. The 166-run opening-wicket stand between Ben Duckett (94) and Zak Crawley (84) at over 5 runs per over tilted the balance of the game on England's side. At 225/2, England trail by 153 runs. By the end of the day, India's first innings total of 358 looked insufficient on this track that kept changing its character based on the cloud cover and sunshine. This clearly was a game of two halves. After the engrossing session-and-half in the afternoon, the evening lacked drama or intrigue. Jasprit Bumrah had an off-day—he was off-target and his pace too was off. Debutant Anshul Kamboj didn't live up to his promise of being accurate and owner of the 'heavy ball' that troubles batsmen. Mohammed Siraj lacked sting. Shardul Thakur was ineffective. After the pace department had collectively failed and were wicketless in the early part of the England innings, captain Shubman Gill threw the ball to Ravindra Jadeja. On the second ball of India's spinner-in-chief's first over, England opener Crawley stepped down the surface and smashed the ball over long-on for a six. It was at this point, probably for the first time in the series that India looked deflated. Nothing seems to be working for them. The England opening pair of Crawley and Duckett hadn't looked this solid in the last three Tests like they did at Old Trafford. Forget getting them out, they weren't even beaten in the first couple of hours of their stay. Like was the case when the Indians batted, there was hardly any play and miss. But for a couple of balls that Bumrah bowled from round-the-wicket and beat Duckett's bat, it was the case of tight batting against undisciplined bowling. Bumrah bowled to a packed off-side field to Crawley. The plan was to invite him to swing his bat freely and try one of his booming drives. It wasn't that the England opener had gone into the shell, it is just that most times the ball was so wide outside off stump that the batsman wasn't tempted. The famous Bumrah consistency was missing and even his pace seemed to have dropped. When attempting to change his line, he would often drift down the leg-side. Siraj looked tired. There was nothing amiss in his action, his stride had the usual rhythm, the jump too was also in place but the balls lacked the zip. Like most bowlers with diminishing energy levels, Siraj's effort balls would tail on the leg of the batsmen, making the off-side heavy field redundant. England commentator Nasser Hussain made a sharp observation about the two England openers Duckett and Crawley. He said they both had it in them to punish the bad balls but Duckett was more focused and apt in dealing with the good balls. But at least in this Test, Crawley's shot-selection had improved. There was a Thakur over where he bowled a couple of great balls—they came in, bounced and seamed away. These balls he left and when the bowler erred in his length he pulled it to square leg for a boundary. Duckett, like he always does, jumped on loose balls and there were many. If a ball was marginally short on the off-side, he would bring out his tight jab to the cover region. When the ball was short, he didn't go blind to the fielders on the fence, like the Indians. India's two left-handers Sai Sudharsan and Washington Sundar were both out to Stokes' leg-side trap. He would bowl a sharp short ball that climbed towards the head of the batsmen. Sudharsan and Washington both ended up guiding the ball into the hands of the lone fielder on the fine-leg boundary. India too tested Duckett with the short ball but he had control over his shot, he kept it down and played square of the wicket. Both Duckett and Crawley missed their centuries. First Crawley edged a Jadeja ball to slips and Duckett was out flashing at a Kamboj short ball outside the off-stump. They certainly weren't top wicket-taking balls but they got the batsmen to commit unforced errors. As the day ended and players were in the dressing room, two worried men, in India blues, walked up to the pitch. After a brief inspection, coaches Gautam Gambhir and Shitanshu Kotak walked on the turf, talking while staring at the grass blades. India might be feeling the ground under their feet shaking.


Hindustan Times
30 minutes ago
- Hindustan Times
Gautam Gambhir hugged Rishabh Pant for playing 27 balls with fracture; India keeper refused help: 'Main kar lunga'
The legend of Rishabh Pant today expanded beyond imagination. Not because of his batting. Well, he has already reached that status despite spending just 7 years in Test cricket, but because of the heart he put on display on Day 2 of the 4th Test between India and England at Manchester's Old Trafford stadium. Pant cracked his right toe when a yorker from Chris Woakes hit him flush on his foot. As Pant was driven out in an ambulance, you knew his participation in the remainder of the Test match was going to be dicey. Rishabh Pant and Gautam Gambhir have fun in Manchester(AFP) Team India's worst nightmare came true around 12 PM on Thursday when sources confirmed to the BCCI that Pant has indeed picked up a fracture and is asked to rest for between 6 and 8 weeks, pretty much ruling him out of the series. The chances of Pant playing any part in the Manchester Test were as good as Mohammed Siraj hitting Jofra Archer for 6 sixes in an over. Exactly. Zero. But when the BCCI sent out a post on X saying, Pant can bat depending on the team's requirements, the first thing that came to mind was 'You've got to be kidding me'. Well, turns out the board wasn't. Pant indeed walked out to bat at the fall of Shardul Thakur and India's sixth wicket to one of the loudest cheers ever by an English crowd ever reserved for an Indian batter. Limping out to bat, Pant practically batted on one leg, completing his fifty and ensuring India breached 350 to eventually finish on 358. Also Read: 'You've handed Rishabh Pant's runs back to England', Nasser blasts Shubman Gill after England openers run riot During his stay at the crease, Pant smashed a six off Jofra Archer and a four against Ben Stokes. England, sensing blood, went for the jugular, darting more yorkers at Pant's injured toe, which the batter saw off carefully. In the end, a peach from Archer uprooted Pant's off-stump, sending it cartwheeling. Pant's innings was over, but his stature as a never-give-up cricketer had grown by leaps and bounds. Pant refuses teammates' help As Pant made his way back to the Old Trafford dressing room, a couple of his teammates, Akash Deep and Kuldeep Yadav, had sprinted near the boundary to help him. However, as they tried to assist Pant in climbing the change room stairs, Pant said a defiant 'No'. "Main kar lunga," (I'll do it myself), he could be heard saying. Pant gingerly, but more importantly, climbed the stairs all by himself. It took him time, but the moment he approached the dressing room, there they were, head coach Gautam Gambhir and all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja, offering Pant a big, warm hug. Pant had played 27 balls with a fractured foot. Cricket has seen several heroic knocks. Who can forget Graeme Smith walking out with a fractured arm, or Brett Lee bleeding after suffering a cut on his head against India during the 2011 World Cup quarterfinal? And hey, is there a better courageous effort ever seen in world cricket than Anil Kumble bowling with a broken jaw, sending down 14 consecutive overs and picking up the wicket of West Indies legend Brian Lara. Irrespective of the outcome of this match – Manchester Test at Old Trafford has, in all likelihood, cemented Pant as a bonafide legend.


Time of India
39 minutes ago
- Time of India
Hmar questions AIFF's volte-face in its submission to CAS
The chairperson of the League Committee said he was 'thoroughly disappointed' that the AIFF made every attempt to undermine the importance of the League Committee in its submission to CAS Panaji: Chairperson of the All India Football Federation's League Committee and Mizoram sports minister, Lalnghinglova Hmar, has sought clarifications after being left 'confused and disappointed' at the federation's 'vacillating stands on the legal battle between a few I-League clubs,' involving the re-registration of Inter Kashi forward Mario Barco. It was the League Committee that allowed the re-registration of Barco after the AIFF's competitions department had turned down Inter Kashi. The Spanish forward was initially registered before the league kicked off, but suffered an injury in December, leading to his replacement by Matija Babovic. Two months later, Kashi re-registered Barco as a replacement for Juan Perez del Pino, who had mutually terminated his contract with the club. Three clubs – Churchill Brothers, Namdhari FC and Delhi FC – lodged a protest and later filed an appeal with the AIFF Appeals Committee, which they won. The ruling was, however, set aside by the Switzerland-based Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS). 'I am afraid to say the AIFF failed to take a definite stand on the subject,' Hmar wrote in a letter to AIFF president Kalyan Chaubey on Wednesday. 'AIFF's vacillating stands on the legal battle between a few I-League clubs led to the unusual development of the I-League title being decided in the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Switzerland for the first time in Indian football history,' he added. Popularly known as Tetea, the man credited with transforming football in Mizoram said the way AIFF handled the entire issue threatened to dismantle the fabric and the long-standing tradition of India's domestic football. 'When the matter went to the AIFF appeal committee on April 30, 2025, the AIFF's submission stated that the Inter Kashi footballer was allowed to be re-registered by the League Committee, which has the necessary jurisdiction and constitutional authority to do so. Surprisingly, the AIFF did a complete volte-face in its submission to the CAS, in which it not only belittled its own league committee, but went on to explain at length that the league committee doesn't have the authority to allow the said footballer to play. 'The difference of opinion between the two submissions is so stark and glaring that it makes it hard to believe that they were made by the same party in less than three and a half months,' said Hmar, adding that it also gives rise to unnecessary suspicion that the AIFF's complete change of stance was driven by reasons that could hamper the neutrality of the national federation. The chairperson also put on record that he was 'thoroughly disappointed' that the AIFF made every attempt to undermine the importance of the League Committee in its submission to CAS. 'The league committee is one of the standing committees of the AIFF, constituted and approved by the executive committee. To say this committee 'lacked the authority to render any final and binding clarification or opinion' is absolutely shocking and is like an attempt to erode and sabotage its own authority. So much so, the AIFF secretariat didn't even bother to table the decision of the League Committee in the executive committee meeting for approval,' said Hmar. Inter Kashi were announced as champions after CAS overturned two decisions by the AIFF Appeals Committee, a first for Indian football.