NEW DELHI: For the first time in its history, the Asian Gymnastics Union has appointed as many as five Indians in several of its technical committees until 2022, the year of the next Asian Games competition in China.
The development comes at a time when Indian gymnasts are putting up exceptional performances despite the Gymnastics Federation of India (GFI) being in a mess for more than six years, being split in two factions reportedly after it was derecognised by Sports India in 2012.
However, the GFI have confirmed that Narayan Shashi (Gymnastics for All), Makarand Joshi (Aerobic Gymnastics), Deepak Kabra (Men’s Artistic Gymnastics), Sumith MR (Acrobatic Gymnastics) and Akshata Shete (Rhythmic Gymnastics) will be taking up their respective posts on a four year term.
These are internationally qualified judges who have vital experience in their disciplines, having also been official in many global tournaments in the past.
“They are now part of the Technical Committee which is responsible for the governance of the respective discipline at Asian Level including at the Asian Games 2022 in Hangzhou, China,” Gymnastic Federation of India (GFI) said in a media statement.
“This is the first time in history that as many as 5 persons from India were appointed to the Technical Committees of AGU. India will now have more impact in gymnastics at the Asian region.”
GFI VP Riyaz Bhati added: “Having 5 persons in AGU Technical Committees are indicators of the progress India in making in gymnastics which is a direct result of the efforts from the gymnasts, coaches and administration.”
