Asian Para Games: row with coaches, court tussle, delays in clearance add to chaos

File Pic: Shooter Manish Narwal NEW DELHI: With less than a week to go before the start of the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Para Games, India’s preparations have been clouded by selection disputes, coaching omissions and administrative delays, leaving athletes in para shooting, cycling, badminton, table tennis and bocce grappling with uncertainty.Nine of the 13 selected Indian Para shooters met Sports Authority of India (SAI) officials and the Sports Project Manager at the SAI headquarters here on Monday and expressed their displeasure over the omission of head coach JP Nautiyal from the contingent. Armourer and assistant coach Shivam Tyagi was also omitted.Aggrieved shooters urged the authorities to reconsider the decision, with some expressing concern about competing without Nautiyal. Among those who raised concerns were Manish Narwal, Mona Agarwal, Nihal Singh, Shrishti Arora, Swaroop Mahavir Unhalkar, Rakesh Nidagundi, Sumedha Pathak and Bhakti Sharma who won major international medals under his guidance.Bhakti, a deaf and non-speaking shooter who relies on specialized communication, reportedly collapsed during the meet, while Sumedha expressed doubts that she could compete without her coach. The shooters were accompanied by pistol trainer Rakesh Singh and support staff member Pavittar.The dispute comes as the ministry finally cleared the pending disciplines late on Monday, according to sources. The ministry’s push came as the para badminton and table tennis contingents were due to leave for Japan on Tuesday evening and the announcement of the final sanctions was considerably delayed. With these approvals, the Indian contingent has been cleared across disciplines, barring pending court cases, including para-cycling.The October 10 partial sanction covered eight disciplines and listed 128 athletes – 90 men and 38 women – along with 91 officials, bringing the contingent to 219 members. Badminton, table tennis and boccia were excluded at this stage.The delay also affected the distribution of the kits. Athletes who visited the Paralympic Committee of India (PCI) office on Monday afternoon to collect their ceremonial and competition kits returned empty-handed as clearance was awaited. Pramod Bhagat, India’s flag bearer at the opening ceremony, wore co-driver Sukanta Kadam’s formal attire at the send-off on 8 October because his own did not fit.Last-minute clearances left athletes with little time to repair ill-fitting kits, organize equipment and prepare for departure. In table tennis, the competition starts on October 16, after checking the classification on October 15. Wheelchair players need time to acclimatize and adjust their equipment, while rowers will have just one day to rest after reaching Nagoya before classification begins.Despite final clearances, five badminton names — Chirag Baretha, Manisha Patel, Shashank Kumar, Ammu Beulah Mohan and Rachna Patel — were not sanctioned, sources said. LY Suhas was cleared. Kalpesh Thakkar, secretary of the Baroda Table Tennis Association, has also not been cleared.In para-cycling, five qualified athletes challenged their disqualification in the Delhi High Court under Articles 14 and 21, challenging the decision to retain only one cyclist despite six recommendations. The case will be heard again on Tuesday, with an interim decision expected.