IOA asked to resolve Asiad sailing selection impasse after YAI expresses inability to hold re-trial

The Delhi High Court has asked the Indian Olympic Association to break the impasse over selection of the 49er FX sailing team for the upcoming Asian Games after the Yachting Association of India failed to get the requisite permissions to hold a re-trial in Jakarta.

The Court, which had earlier directed the YAI to hold a fresh trial to break the stand-off between two warring sailors – Varsha Gautham and Ekta Yadav – over a place in India’s Asian Games squad, is expected to pass its judgement following the submission of a name by the IOA on Thursday.

“YAI has a good relationship with our counterparts in Indonesia,” senior YAI official Ajay Narang told Scroll. “However, the course has been handed over to the Asian Games organising committee which has put the course in lock down.

“The equipment is already in Indonesia where the rest of India’s contingent has already begun training. To hold a trial elsewhere was not possible,” Narang said.

Narang, in fact, had travelled to Jakarta in a last ditch effort to convince officials in Jakarta to make the required arrangements but could not secure the necessary permissions.

Selection mess

The stand-off stems from a botched up selection process conducted by the YAI and the IOA’s premature announcement of the final squad. The YAI had picked Ekta and her crew member Shaila Charis to represent India in Indonesia, even as Varsha and partner Sweta Shervegar were left out.

Ekta and Shaila had won bronze at the Asian Sailing Championship (ASC), while Varsha and Sweta had finished ahead of their compatriots to win silver. The superior medal should have been enough to secure a berth for Varsha and Sweta, but the other two had topped the trials in Chennai and the YAI’s selection committee decided to pick the former pair.

Varsha then filed a petition in court citing an arbitrary selection procedure. The Indian Olympic Association, after being apprised of the situation, recommended the names of Varsha and Sweta pending the judgment of the Delhi High Court.

The case was disposed off on July 7, with Justice Vibhu Bakhru stated that “this court is certainly not equipped to evaluate the merits of their decision and the same is beyond the scope of judicial review.”

The court further stated that it could not interfere in the selection matters of the YAI.

IOA’s role

However, IOA on July 7 named Varsha and Sweta as the official entry.

“We have named Varsha and Shweta in place of Ekta and Shaila. Varsha and Shweta are silver medallists in the Asian Championships while Ekta and Saila are bronze medallists,” IOA chief Narinder Batra had said then.

Left aggrieved by the premature announcement, Ekta also has approached the court seeking redressal.