Gymnast Dipa Karmakar fears missing Asian Games 2023, details discouraging recent events

Left out of the Indian squad for the Asian Games, a fuming Dipa Karmakar on Tuesday launched a scathing attack on Sports Authority of India (SAI) and the Sports Ministry for leaving her de-motivated and discouraged with their "deafening silence". The gymnast, who achieved a historic fourth place finish at the 2016 Rio Olympics, recently topped the Asian Games trials in her event but was excluded from the Indian squad as she didn't fulfil criteria of a top-eight finish in the last 12 months.

In her case, it was not possible as she was serving a two-year ban due to anti-doping violation.

Two days after her coach Bisheshwar Nandi lashed out at SAI, Dipa took to social media to vent her anger and helplessness.

"On this Independence Day, I am using my freedom of speech to discuss recent events that have proven to be very demotivating and discouraging. The #AsianGames2023, an event I have eagerly anticipated for the past two years, looks further than it is," she wrote on X, formerly twitter.