Indian champion wrestler Vinesh Phogat has been ruled out of the upcoming Asian Games in Hangzhou, China starting September 23, due to a knee injury. Ms Phogat, who is a three-time Commonwealth Games gold medalist, suffered the injury during training on August 13.

The 2018 Asian Games gold medallist wrote on X (formerly Twitter) that surgery is the only option to recover.

“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,” Ms Phogat wrote on X.

“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 at Jakarta. But unfortunately, this injury has ruled out my participation now. I have informed concerned authorities immediately so that the Reserve player can be sent to the Asian Games,” she added.

In addition to missing the Asian Games, Ms Phogat”s knee injury will also prevent her from competing in the World Championships trial, which is scheduled to take place on August 25-26 in Patiala, Punjab.

She had suffered a career-threatening anterior cruciate ligament tear in her knee at the Rio Olympics in 2016.

Vinesh Phogat, a two-time Olympian, was among the wrestlers who had accused Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) president Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh in June of sexually abusing them.