Teen wushu athlete threatens suicide after last-minute Asian Games exit

An 18-year-old Indian athlete has threatened to end her life after being dropped from the country's Asian Games squad at the last minute.

Divyanshi Chaudhary, a wushu fighter from Kota, posted a tearful video on social media from the rooftop of her hostel at the National Institute of Sports in Patiala. Standing near the edge and filming the ground below, Chaudhary said she had been subjected to months of mental torture and saw no point in living.

"I have been harassed so much mentally from June, July to now," she said. "I am really fed up."

The dispute centres on who gets to represent India in the women’s 60kg sanda category at the upcoming Games in Aichi-Nagoya, Japan. Chaudhary was named in the official squad list published by the Sports Ministry on 22 August. But she has been replaced by Naorem Roshibina Devi, an Arjuna awardee and two-time Asian Games medallist.

Chaudhary and her team argue the replacement is an abuse of power. Her coach, Ashok Gautam, said Chaudhary had proved herself the top athlete in her category by winning five consecutive selection trials. In the semi-finals of those trials, she defeated Roshibina.

"She has used her powers to throw Divyanshi out," Gautam alleged, claiming Roshibina manipulated her way back into the team. Chaudhary’s father, Sunil, said the family was only notified of the decision on Friday morning, alleging there had been a plan to wait and tell his daughter she was not travelling only when she arrived at the airport.

What the sports bodies say

The Wushu Association of India (WAI) strongly denies any unfair treatment or manipulation. WAI president Jitender Bajwa said the decision was made by the Sports Authority of India (SAI) after it became clear Chaudhary was carrying a severe knee injury.

According to the federation, Chaudhary hurt her knee during a tournament in China in late June. When she joined the national camp in August, coaches noticed she was avoiding training and recommended a medical check. An MRI scan at a hospital in Patiala on 23 August revealed a partial high-grade ACL tear.

"They couldn’t carry an injured athlete to the Asian Games, so they had to remove her name," Bajwa said. He explained that Roshibina was selected as the replacement because the losing finalist, Himanshi, was unavailable after fracturing her jaw.

The dispute over medical clearance

Chaudhary's camp does not deny the injury but disputes its severity. Her father said a doctor had advised that the ACL tear could be managed through rehabilitation. Chaudhary herself claimed a doctor had explicitly written that she could compete if her knee was taped.

"Why is this not being accepted?" Chaudhary asked in her video, adding that she was never given a chance to present her medical records or explain her side of the story before being dropped.

The teenager also levelled physical harassment allegations against her rival, claiming Roshibina had deliberately injured her shoulder during a training camp in Srinagar. Those claims, like the allegations of administrative manipulation, have not been independently verified.

The Sports Ministry has stated that the squad change was approved under standard procedures for injury replacements, after the WAI formally requested Chaudhary's withdrawal on 9 September.