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With just two days left to go for the 2018 Commonwealth Games, controversy seems to be India's constant companion in Gold Coast.
After the whole syringe-saga, which is yet to die out, it has now emerged that the Indian weightlifting contingent has been left without a physio or a masseur in the Games Village.
Confirming the development to Sportskeeda from Gold Coast, Sathish Kumar Sivalingam said, "We are the top medal contenders for India and yet, we have no physio or masseur with our team in the Games Village. Also, we have only four coaches whereas we need at least five to six."
"In our sport, a physio and a masseur is very, very needed. If anyone gets injured, then they have no one to turn to," he added.
The weightlifting contingent were among the firsts to travel from India to Australia as they sought to get acclimatised to the different time zone and weather conditions. They were camping in Melbourne where they were accompanied by Aakranth Saxena, the physio, and Koteswara Rao, the masseur.
They left for the Games Village on Sunday, 1st April, from Melbourne. However, on reaching the village in Gold Coast, they were dealt a big surprise when they found out that neither Saxena nor Rao was being allowed to enter. Apparently, Saxena had accreditation but it was cancelled at the last moment.
"Saxena's accreditation was issued but then, suddenly, it was cancelled. We don't know why, it happened so suddenly. Every other Indian team have enough coaches, physios and masseurs, only weightlifting is left to suffer. We need at least one physio," Sathish said.
Incidentally, this is not the first time the Indian weightlifters have had to face such a scenario. Previously, something similar had happened at the 2014 Glasgow Commonwealth Games and the 2016 Rio Olympics, according to Sathish, who himself is a strong contender for a gold medal at the Commonwealth Games while RV Rahul and Mirabai Chanu are also clear favourites in their categories.
We can also expect a number of more medals from the weightlifters. However, being left without adequate support staff might dent their chances.
