Despite the improving situation of sports in India, there have been instances when politics have played spoil sport for many athletes in the country and they have been denied to play at the level they deserve by the state associations or some persons associated. Despite all this, an athlete still performs to his best potential to fulfill their dream of playing at the highest stage but in an unfortunate turn of events, three Indian Wushu players are forced to withdraw from the Asian Games 2023 as they have been denied clearance by Chinese authorities. Nyeman Wangsu, Onilu Tega and Mepung Lamgu were scheduled to fly out to take a flight to China on Wednesday night from IGI Airport in Delhi.
The three athletes belong from Arunanchal Pradesh and they were to participate in the Wushu event which is typically a Chinese martial arts also known as Kung-Fu. As per the report in the Hindustan Times newspaper, the three athletes were earlier approved to participate in the Asian Games 2023 in Hangzhou by the Organizing Committee, but could not download their accred
itation cards – which work as visas that allow one to enter China.
History
China claims some 90,000 sq km of Arunachal Pradesh as its territory. It calls the area “Zangnan” in the Chinese language and makes repeated references to “South Tibet”. Chinese maps show Arunachal Pradesh as part of China and not India. The land dispute and the rising tension between the two countries after the Galwan Valley clash have put India-China relations on a low but the unfortunate punishment is received by the three Arunanchal Pradesh athletes.
Rest of the 10 member in the Wushu squad from India have already left for Hangzhou. Neither the IOA (Indian Olympic Association) nor the country’s foreign ministry commented on the situation. Sports minister Anurag Thakur cancelled his visit to China after the aftermath of this unfortunate incident.
