Official's error costs India likely medal

Bengaluru: A shocking error by a team official accompanying the Indian squad has allegedly denied a promising Indian athlete a likely podium finish at the FISU World University Games now on in Rhine-Ruhr, Germany.Seema, one of India's rising long-distance runners, had trained hard and was all set to start Monday's women's 10,000m final when she realised to her horror that her name was missing from the start list. She alerted the Indian team officials, who were also shocked at the turn of events. “It appears that while reconfirming the participation of the athletes to the organisers, through the electronic data sheet, the athletics official at the venue clicked the wrong box. There were two boxes — participating and not participating — and the official could have ticked the wrong box, resulting in Seema's name being deleted from the start list," sources told TOI.According to coaches who have watched her progress, the Himachal Pradesh runner was a genuine medal prospect. “She was training under the foreign coach in Bengaluru and had clocked impressive times. She stood a real chance to climb the podium, and who knows, it could have been a gold medal missed due to the carelessness of the officials,” they said. As per the entry list, the 24-year-old had clocked a personal and season best time of 32:14.66s.“It's a matter of shame that our athletes' names are not there when athletes from Pakistan and Sri Lanka figure in the start list. I'm still at the ground in full kit, hoping against hope that I will get a last-minute call to compete. Athletes assemble at the call room one hour before the start of the race and I will wait till then,” Seema told TOI. “There were three of us who had arrived here to compete in the women's 10,000m —Anjali Devi, Nirmala and me— but our names were missing from the start list,” she added.Sources said the Indian officials met the organisers again on Monday evening, but after extensive deliberations, the organisers stood their ground and Seema's name remained missing from the start list at the time of going to print. The final was scheduled to start at 12.40 am (IST) on Tuesday. According to experts, it is highly unlikely that the organisers will go out of their way to accommodate the request of the Indian officials.Six badminton players missed medals?A similar goof-up was reported in badminton, where India won the mixed team bronze medal. “Our Indian team officials failed to submit our names correctly at the managers' meeting on July 16. Instead of ticking 12 names from the nomination list, they only submitted six names, forgetting the rest. As per FISU rules, 12 players were allowed and we were all eligible. We travelled. We trained, we sacrificed and yet we were denied the chance to even participate. Six of us will return empty-handed because of a careless blunder by the officials,” Alisha Khan, one of the six affected players, posted on social media.Former India coach U Vimal Kumar was disturbed to hear the news. “These days, India is not going just to participate in these tournaments. We are there as medal contenders. So the authorities should ensure that the officials who accompany the India squad as coaches or managers are capable of doing a good job,” Kumar told TOI.