As many as 13 out of 20 badminton players who qualified to represent Rajasthan at the national level have been found to be overage.
The serious case of alleged age misrepresentation came to the fore after parents of some of the players leveled accusations that some of those who qualified for the Under-13 tournament in Jammu and in Under-11 national matches, were overage.
“They (parents) feel that they are overage. So, the parents complained. A team was going for which the Rajasthan Badminton Association gave a direction that medical (tests) of all of them be done so that the actual condition of everyone is known,” Manoj Dasot, Secretary, Jaipur Badminton Association, told India Today.
The Under-13 tournament is scheduled to be held in Jammu from November 28 to 30 and the Under-11 national matches are to be held from December 4. For that, the performance of the players in the state tournament held recently in Ajmer was considered.
The Rajasthan Badminton Association (RBA) directed that medical tests of the players be done after a protest was lodged by some of the players’ parents. Due to the allegations of players being overage, the matter of final selection of the team which is to represent Rajasthan in Jammu has gone in limbo.
“I request the parents personally to not misrepresent the age so that no one’s stake is hampered in future, but what happens is sometimes, some people, who are right, also get wrongly embroiled in this,” Dasot said.
In the past as well, several allegations of overage players playing in Rajasthan in different categories had surfaced. A lot of the players India Today spoke to mentioned that the ones misrepresenting their age should be banned from playing the game as it affects the morale of genuine players.
“Yes (fraud affects) the morale of other players,” Manan Sharma, a young player, told.
“Yes, (those players who misrepresent their age) should be (banned permanently),” Vayam Lamba, another young player, said.
“Yes. The children do get demoralised by this kind of a matter because of 1 – 2 players, and it is a matter of career of several children. Because of 1 – 2 children, there are protests. Several times, they could not play any further and when their medical happens, then their results arrive as to what is the category of the children,” Aman Kumar Kumawat, assistant coach, said.
