Picture Credit: Twitter
The largest continental multisport tournament Asian Games 2023 are set to commence in Hangzhou, China, from September 23, Saturday. At the previous edition of the tournament, a total of 570 athletes represented the Indian subcontinent across 36 sporting disciplines.
In the forthcoming edition, a larger continent, consisting of 655 Indian athletes will compete across different events with an intent to cross the 100-medal mark in the tally. While several big names, including the likes of Neeraj Chopra and Lovlina Borgohain are set to contest for the yellow metal, there are several names who will miss out the upcoming event.
Here are five names that couldn’t make it to the event due to various reasons:
1. Vinesh Phogat
The first name that won’t be a part of the 19th Asian Games is the Indian wrestler Vinesh Phogat , who won a gold at the 2018 Commonwealth Games as well as Asian Games the same year in the women’s 50kg category. As she finished atop the podium in the previous edition, Phogat was awarded a direct entry in the 2022 season.
However, the star wrestler had to pull out of the contest due to a knee injury Phogat underwent last month. Hence, she needs more time to regain fitness.
