22 more more athletes were added to the Indian Asian Games contingent by the Ministry of Youth and Sports Affairs on Thursday. With the new additions, the total number of athletes to represent the nation in the quadrennial event has increased from to 656. Sprinter Amlan Borgohain, Skeet Shooter Angad Veer Bajwa, Shooters Manisha Keer and Preeti Rajak were some of the recent additions to the squad.
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India to make Asian Games debut in Modern Pentathlon
The Ministry has added athlete Mayank Vaibhav Chapheker to the contingent. The athlete will represent Indian in Modern Pentathlon. This will mark the first-ever time that an Indian will feature in the sport at the Asiad.
Modern Pentathlon is an Olympic sport and the Asiad serve as a qualifier for the Paris Olympics. The Modern Pentathlon Federation of India had earlier requested the inclusion of five athletes to the squad.
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According to reports, following the exclusion, Mayank Vaibhav Chapheker and other reached out to the Punjab and Haryana High Court. They pleaded their case in the court for inclusion. The Sports Minsitry has now reconsidered their decision.
Mayank will be the sole athlete to represent India in Modern Pentathlon. None of the other athletes in modern pentathlon could manage to meet the eligibility criteria set forth by the Ministry.
Meanwhile, five athletes were added to Jiu-Jitsu squad. In the Kurash, four players were added to the team. There were also replacements named in some sports. Suraj Yadav will replace Owais Sarwar, who failed a dope test in Wushu.
