Why is Vinesh Phogat not participating in Asian Games 2023? 

2018 Asian Games champion Vinesh Phogat will not participate in the upcoming edition of the event slated to take place in Hanghzhou, China this month due to injury.

The 29-year-old Vinesh was given an automatic berth in the Indian wrestling contingent for the women’s 53kg category for the 2022 Asian Games by the IOA-appointed ad-hoc committee, providing an exemption from the wrestling trials.

Antim Panghal, who won the women’s 53 kg event at the wrestling trials and had unsuccessfully challenged the exemption provided to Phogat in court, will travel as her replacement in the 53kg category.

Phogat announced through the social media site X, formerly known as Twitter, that she suffered an injury on August 13 which would require surgery, thus ruling her out of contention for the Asian Games.

“I wanted to share an extremely sad piece of news. A couple of days ago on 13th August 2023, I injured my left knee in training. After doing the scans and examinations, the doctor has said that unfortunately, surgery is the only option for me to recover,” Phogat wrote.

“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 in Jakarta. But unfortunately, this injury has ruled out my participation now.”

“I would like to request all the fans to continue supporting me so that I can make a strong comeback on the mat soon and prepare for the Paris 2024 Olympics. Your support gives me a slot of strength,” Vinesh wrote, concluding her statement.