New Delhi: In yet another embarrassing goof-up, three Indian weightlifters were disqualified from the second Asian Youth Games in Nanjing because of being overage, adding a new twist to the shocking administrative fiasco which has already seen 24 athletes being barred from participation.
The entries of three weightlifters - Chandrika Tarafdar (women's 48kg), Jyoti Mal (women's 53kg) and Akshay Bhagwan (men's 62kg) - have been rejected by the Nanjing Games organisers due to the overage issue. All the three were 1996-born weightlifters.
The new developments come barely a couple of days after 18 track and field athletes were earlier disqualified from the Games for being overage, prompting the sports ministry to launch an inquiry into the incident.
It is learnt that participants in athletics and weightlifting should be born on or after January 1, 1997, though in other remaining disciplines, the sportspersons who are more than 17 years of age can also take part.
A senior official of the Indian Weightlifting Federation (IWF) told PTI that the entries of three weightlifters have been rejected but reasons are yet to be known.
"We have come to know that entries of three weightlifters have been rejected by the local organizing committee. We are yet to know the reason," an official said on condition of anonymity.
Indians are participating in this multi-sporting event as independent Olympic athletes because the Indian Olympic Association is serving a ban imposed by the International Olympic Committee.
The Indians are the only athletes, other than the one from Myanmar, who have been disqualified for being overage.
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