Odisha woman softball international Swetasini Sabar’s dream to represent India at the forthcoming Hangzhou Asian Games has died a premature death with the Union Sports Ministry withdrawing the Indian team from the continental Games.
Softball was set to make its debut in the Asian Games and the Softball Association of India had selected Swetasini in the 16-member Indian women’s team for the same. But the Sports Ministry’s last-minute
decision to withdraw the team has come as a heart-break.
On the other hand, Sports Ministry has given green signal to the participation of Indian men’s and women’s teams in the Asian Games despite the teams not meeting the criteria of being ranked among the top eight in the continent.
However, Odisha stands to gain from this decision as four women footballers from the State have been selected among 38 probables for a camp of the Indian team, scheduled to take place in Bhubaneswar from July 30.
Though the camp is for AFC Olympic Qualifier Round 2 to be held in Tashkent this year, it is believed that the Indian women’s team for Asian Games would be selected from the same list of probables. The Odisha probables are: defenders Manisha Panna, Juli Kishan, Jabamani Tudu and forward Pyari Xaxa.