CWG 2022: Head Coach, Team Doc Leave Games Village Room For Lovlina's Personal Coach

Bhaskar Bhat, the Indian women's boxing team head coach, has moved out of his room at the Commonwealth Games Village and checked into a nearby hotel to accommodate Olympic bronze medallist Lovlina Borgohain's personal coach Sandhya Gurung.

"I have moved to a hotel which is a 10-minute walk from the Village," Bhatt told PTI.

"I volunteered to do it (give up his room) as it's all ghar ka mamla (internal matter) and it's best to sort out such things amongst ourselves," he added.

Borgohain is the team’s only Olympic medallist.

According to reports, Bhatt still has access to all the venues and the Games Village. The only change being that he won't be able to stay inside the Village at night.

"I have all the required access, so it's not a problem for me," Bhatt said.

In May, the Indian women's team returned with three medals, including a gold, under Bhatt at the World Championship.

Amid backlash following shocking claims by the ace pugilist, the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) had also increased the quota for support staff of boxers from 4 to 8.

In an official statement, the Boxing Federation of India (BFI) clarified that according to the rules, only 33% of the playing contingent are allowed as support staff.

"In BFI's case the limit was just four support staff to 12 boxers. Only 33% of the playing contingent is allowed as Support Staff which in BFI’s case for the 12 boxers (8 men and 4 women) stands to be 4 support staff, (including coaches) who were to travel with the Team to Birmingham,” it said.

Because of their efforts, the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) had increased their quota of support staff from 4 to 8,” the BFI further said.

Lovlina's coach Sandhya Gurung had originally not been accredited for the Games but received her accreditation on Tuesday at the expense of team doctor Karanjit Chib, who will also need a permission letter from the CDM every single day during the Games.

Chib was among the eight boxing officials in the Indian contingent, however to accommodate Gurung, his accreditation was changed to that of P-coach.

"The team doctor's accreditation was changed to P-coach. That means he will have to get a permission letter/pass from the chef de mission every morning to access the Games Village," BFI Executive Director Col Arun Malik said.

Earlier on Monday, Lovlina Borgohain alleged mental harassment due to dirty “politics” which is affecting her preparations ahead of Commonwealth Games 2022 scheduled to begin from July 28 in Birmingham.

Borgohain in a Twitter post alleged that the coaches that trained her to bronze medal victory in the Tokyo Olympics in 2021 were being replaced causing disruptions in her training regime.

She said that her training process has been completely halted just eight days ahead of the tournament due to the politics behind the scenes.

In a long post in Hindi, Borgohain wrote, “With a heavy heart am admitting of harassment. Every time, the coaches who trained me and helped me to win a medal at the Olympics, are replaced affecting my training process and performance in the competitions.”

She said, “One of my coaches, Sandhya Gurung is a Dronacharya awardee. At times, my coaches have to put in several requests to be included for my training even in the camps. This is seriously hampering my training and my mental health.”

The ace boxer further said, “At the moment, my coach Sandhya Gurungji is waiting outside the commonwealth village. She has been denied entry and my training process has been ceased just eight days before the games.”

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