Asian Games champion in the 50 kg category, Vinesh Phogat, hurt her left knee and will now undergo surgery in Mumbai on Thursday. "I wanted to share an extremely sad piece of news,” Vinesh said in a social media post. “A couple of days ago, on 13th August 2023, I injured my left knee in training. After doing the scans and examinations, the doctor said that unfortunately, surgery is the only option for me to recover. I will be undergoing surgery on 17th August in Mumbai."

“It was my dream to retain my Asian Games gold medal for India which I won in 2018 at Jakarta. But unfortunately, this injury has ruled out my participation now,” she said adding “I have informed all concerned authorities immediately so that the reserve player can be sent to the Asian Games”.

The 28-year-old Vinesh was slated to compete in the 53 kg category at Hangzhou. Antim Panghal, the reigning under-20 champion, was named the standby player for Vinesh following selection trials conducted for the Asian Games.

Vinesh was exempted from the Asian Games trials and was handed direct entry to the continental event. The Asian Games are scheduled to take place from September 23 to October 8.

The injury, also rules her out from the World Wrestling Championships to be held in Belgrade, Serbia in September. The trials for the world championships are slated to take place on August 25-26. Unlike Asian Games, no exemptions have been granted.

The World Wrestling Championships, scheduled from September 16 to 24, will serve as the first qualifying event for the Paris 2024 Olympics. As many as 90 Olympic quotas – five for each of the 18 Olympic weight categories - will be on offer in Belgrade. Quota places, however, don’t belong to individuals and are earned on behalf of national teams. National federations or the authority managing the sport in the country decide which wrestler travels to the Olympics.

“I would like to request all the fans to continue supporting me so that I can make a strong comeback to the mat soon and prepare for the Paris 2024 Olympics,” She said. “Your support gives me a lot of strength.” Vinesh is a two-time bronze medal winner at the world championships. The Indian wrestler also won a bronze medal at the Incheon 2014 Asian Games.

Meanwhile Seema Bisla, who won a bronze medal in the 50 kg at the Asian Championships, was handed a one-year ban by National Anti-Doping Agency (NADA) due to three whereabouts failures.

NADA, formed in 2005, is central anti-doping agency and authorised to carry out ‘in competition’ and ‘out of competition’ testing of Indian athletes. It works in accordance with the rules laid out by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA).

A number of Indian athletes, competing at the highest level in their sport, are selected in the Registered Testing Pool (RTP) by NADA annually. Seema Bisla was part of the 149 athletes from 24 sports disciplines included in the RTP for 2023.

All athletes included in the RTP are required to provide (or file) their whereabouts on a quarterly basis, including address for accommodations, training, work, competitions and other details. Non-compliance is deemed to be a filing failure.

Additionally, these athletes need to provide NADA with a 60-minute time slot for testing and hence are liable for a potential missed test. Failure to comply with these obligations leads to a whereabouts failure. Three whereabouts failures within a span of 12 months attract a suspension for two years. A one-year reduction in ban is possible.