Telangana’s gymnast Aruna cries foul ahead of CWG

Hyderabad: At a time when she is supposed to be busy training for next month’s Commonwealth Games, Telangana gymnast Budda Aruna Reddy is forced to fight a battle of the mat. The Hyderabad gymnast, who scripted history as the first Indian to win a World Cup medal with a bronze in Melbourne in 2018, alleged […]

Hyderabad: At a time when she is supposed to be busy training for next month’s Commonwealth Games, Telangana gymnast Budda Aruna Reddy is forced to fight a battle of the mat.

The Hyderabad gymnast, who scripted history as the first Indian to win a World Cup medal with a bronze in Melbourne in 2018, alleged that coach Rohit Jaiswal and his trainee filmed her without her consent during the physical examination at the Indira Gandhi Stadium in New Delhi on March 24.

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She said she kept quiet while being filmed, assuming it was an order from the Gymnastics Federation of India (GFI). However, on learning that no such order was given to film her examination, she was taken aback.

Speaking to Telangana Today on Friday, the Hyderabad girl said, “I suffered a minor injury during the World Cup in Cairo and was preparing for the World Cup scheduled in Baku. I was asked to appear for a physical test at the IG Stadium on May 24 and I did. Coach Rohit’s student filmed the physical examination on a mobile phone. I kept quiet thinking that it was an order from the Federation. Since the examination was conducted on my right knee, the pain aggravated and I could not continue my training. My doctors could not understand the reason. So I wrote numerous emails to the Federation president Sudhir Mittal asking for the video to be sent to me so that I can show it to my doctors and physios to go ahead with the rehabilitation.”

“However, when I received a reply saying that there was no such order to film the examination, I was shocked. They didn’t take my consent when they filmed it. When I approached the coach, they said they deleted the video and later also claimed they didn’t shoot any video. I have proof that they shot the video. They shot it with malign intentions. I am also not able to train properly since that examination because of aggravated pain. I am going to take legal action,” she said.

She further added that coach Rohit and his companions have been trying to derail her training and chances. “I underwent two surgeries on my right knee and I know how doctors operate. When the SAI doctor examined me, I told him that it was painful but he didn’t pay any attention.”

“With Commonwealth Games scheduled next month, I am worried now about my future. The coach (Rohit Jaiswal) and others have been causing me trouble for the last six years. I kept quiet and focused on my game. But now that they have stooped so low I can’t hold myself back. As they kept troubling me during the training at the IG Stadium, we shifted to another place. Since they can’t do anything to get their wards into team India in trials as I perform well there, they tried to sabotage my training,” she alleged.

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