Asian Games postponement: What it means for India and its athletes

Saina Nehwal, it could well serve as a fresh lifeline but for star tennis player Sania Mirza and archer Tarundeep Rai the last opportunity to represent India at a multi-disciplinary big-ticket event seem to have slipped away with the postponement of the Hangzhou Asian Games. How postponement affects athletes individually?Saina, who is ranked outside top-15 in the world, had skipped the national selection trials for the CWG and the Asiad since she did not want to put her body to rigours of more games between international tournaments.

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The Hangzhou Asian Games, which were scheduled to take place from September 10 to 25, were on Friday postponed indefinitely amid a recent surge in COVID-19 cases in China.

Now the gap between the CWG and Asiad, whenever the new dates are announced, could allow her to force her way back into the Indian team and earn another shot at winning an Asian Games medal, provided the national federation considers her form near the Games. Sania, who is 35, has already announced that 2022 will be her last season. The most successful Indian woman tennis player now will have to make a fresh assessment if she could stretch her career by a few more months to go on a high. Similarly, Tarundeep Rai, the three-time Olympian and the 2010 Guangzhou Asian Games individual silver medallist had planned to retire in September after the Hangzhou event and is now in a fix. "It's a big, big blow to me. I am already 38 and I was planning to retire after the Asian Games this year. I'm clueless now, this is a really massive setback to my preparations. I feel I was reaching the peak in my career again after the disappointment of the Olympics last year.

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