Vaishnave, the reigning National Games gold medallist in taekwondo (under-46kg), is distraught. She reckons that officialdom is out to ruin her chances of representing India at the Asian Games later this year. Vaishnave is the only Indian female taekwondo athlete to have entered the quarterfinals at last year’s Senior World Championships. And yet she has been denied a chance to redeem herself.
The reason is that India Taekwondo, which is officially recognised by World Taekwondo, has denied her wild card entry in the 49kg category, which is an Olympics event, in at least two selection trials for the Asian Championships, which is a direct qualification competition for the Asian Games.
It all started when she missed the Uttar Pradesh State Championships because she was taking part in the Under-21 World Championships in Nairobi, Kenya. The talented athlete was denied entry by the state officials into the Federation Cup, which became a trial for the Asian Games. Incredibly, the secretary general of the UP state association, Rajat Dixit, was part of the selection committee for the U-21 World Championships, besides being the treasurer of India Taekwondo.
In January, she appeared for selection trials in the U-49kg category but lost in the quarterfinals. Subsequently, she got injured and had to undergo a surgery to fix her nose.
Vaishnave says she has been dealing with official apathy since early this year. A nose injury sustained in January forced her out of the meet that was held in Pune, which doubled as trials for the Asian Games. After recovering and getting all the medical clearances, she was again denied a chance to participate at the trials that was held in Bengaluru on March 27-28. Despite numerous attempts to get in touch with the federation officials, including India Taekwondo president Namdev Shirgaonker, Vaishnave claims she was not given a proper reply on her request to get a wild card entry to take part. She travelled to Bengaluru and waited for over seven hours at the venue but still was not entertained.
She met Shirgaonker the next day, and was asked to work hard on her training. In the next selection trials held in Panchkula, Haryana, on April 15, her name was again missing. “My coach Ashish Pratap Singh got a message from national coach Harjinder Singh that I would be issued a wildcard for the Panchkula trials. But like the last time, they went silent. I kept on asking about the wildcard but did not get one response. Finally, when the list came out, as expected my name was missing,” Vaishnave told The Tribune.
“I have no issues with anyone. I want to know why I am being treated like this. All I ever wanted was to be part of the trials. Seems there is one rule for me and one for others,” she added.
In the +73kg category, Rudali Borah was given a wildcard despite failing at the Bengaluru trials. Vaishnave’s coach said that they are only asking for a chance. “We are not raising questions about any other athlete, all we have been asking for is a chance to take part in the trials. Whoever wins should represent India but they seem to prefer ranking points over substance,” he said.
India Taekwondo president Shirgaonker said he has sympathy with the athlete but rules have to be followed. “She is a wonderful athlete and I am sure she will make India proud and win us medals. Problem with her is that her good records are in the 46kg category and she wanted a wildcard in the 49kg category. There are a few girls who outrank her in both results and performances,” he said.
“I wanted to help her because I know her potential but if we start handing out wildcards we would be swarmed with 100 of such requests. We only issued one wild card because the athlete’s ranking points were better than the number two athlete in that category. I hope that she trains harder and makes a comeback soon. She will get many more chances,” he added.
