Asian U-20 Athletics C'ships: Two pole vaulters' poles stuck at Delhi Airport

The participation of two Indian pole vaulters in the Asian U20 Athletics Championship in Yecheon South Korea beginning on Sunday was rendered doubtful after their equipment was not permitted in a South Korean as well as an Air India aircraft due to technical issues related to length of the polesDev Kumar Meena mens pole vault and Sunil Kumar decathlon of which pole vault is one of the 10 events were to compete in their respective events on Sunday but they left for Seoul in a South Korean flight on Friday which is in alliance with Air India without their polesEven Air India refused to carry the poles in its 1205am flight on Friday according to an official of the Athletics Federation of IndiaThe AFI official said that Air India refused to carry three poles measuring 5m each to be used by the two athletes on the ground of some technical issues concerning prescribed length of the itemsThe two athletes have already reached South Korea but their poles are stuck here in Delhi airport Air India said they cannot allow the 5mlong poles under the current rules It is strange that our athletes had gone to Busan South Korea with the same kind of poles only last year the AFI official told PTIWe have been running here and there since yesterday afternoon but Air India is not relenting We are now trying through our travel agent to send the poles to Korea by FedEx Express Cargo flight later today Lets see the official saidIn fact all the 55member Indian contingent was to leave for South Korea from the Indira Gandhi International Airport here at 630pm Friday on Seoulbased Asiana Airlines flight but the Indian coaches were told that they would not be allowed to take the three poles as well as the javelinsThe AFI had booked the tickets through Air India with the help of a travel agencyAll the paperwork relating to bookings and luggage were done by Air India as they have a tieup with Asiana Airlines On May 26 a mail was sent to Air India informing about the number of poles and javelins we will be taking to Korea along with their size specificationBut when the contingent reached IGI yesterday to board the flight Asiana Airlines said Air India has not informed them about it and so the poles and javelins could not be allowed inside the aircraft the AFI official saidAll the members of the contingent save for two coaches left for South Korea boarding the Asiana Airlines The two coaches were held back to accompany the poles and javelins in an Air India flight to Seoul at 1205am FridayWhat was surprising was that Air India itself refused to carry the poles because of its length and some technical issues We even went to the Air India cargo office at the IGI to let in the poles and javelins as cargo but to no availThe javelins were finally allowed and the two coaches initially held back also boarded the Air India flight the AFI official saidThe two athletes had brought the poles in a domestic flight from Bengaluru and there was no problem then dont know why it is different in this caseEven if the three poles do not reach South Korea on time the two athletes may still compete on Sunday by using equipment of other competitors or those provided by the organisers but that will affect their performanceThey may still participate even if the poles do not reach on time But normally the length of the pole depends on the height of the pole vaulter so they may compete if they get poles of their size otherwise they may not do their bestThe 55member Indian contingent for the June 47 championships has 45 athletes including 19 women and 10 coachesAlso Read Mental Health Awareness Month Highlighting the voice of mental health in sportsThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever