Guwahati, Nov. 27: Assam’s ace swimmer Elvis Ali Hazarika has refused to take the pool at the Hyderabad National Games, starting December 13.

Assam Swimming Association president Utpal Sharma today told The Telegraph that Hazarika, who has won laurels for state in the past, has turned down the ASA request to participate in the Games.

“We have made several attempts to persuade Elvis to join the team, but to no avail. Not only is Elvis unwilling to participate in the Games, his parents, too, have expressed their unwillingness to send him to Hyderabad. He has not assigned any reason for skipping the Games,” the ASA president said.

Elvis, who has represented the country at the Beijing Asian Games, the Commonwealth Games and SAARC Games in Kuala Lumpur, besides being a regular at national and state-level championships, could not be contacted for his comments. In his early twenties, Elvis is employed by the CRPF as an inspector.

Elvis is one of the three swimmers from the state to have qualified for participation in the National Games. The other two swimmers who have qualified as per norms for the National Games are Liza Mahanta and Rajib Bora. The two are attending a special preparatory camp here for the past month.

However, ASA recommendations to the Assam Olympic Association for final selection have raised many eyebrows.

The ASA, sources claimed, has recommended swimmers who are yet to represent the state in the senior nationals.

Konkon Hazarika and Debajyoti Bora, who have represented the state in the senior nationals, were reportedly not even invited to the selection-cum-trial camps by the state swimming association.

On the other hand, though Bhargabi Gogoi, Mariline Gogoi and Arindam Gogoi have never represented the state in the senior nationals, figure in the recommended list.

Swimmers have alleged that players from Guwahati and Tezpur were not invited to the selection camp, while the ASA left no stone unturned to get the services of New Delhi-based Chandan Baruah for the selection trials.

The ASA president, however, said the swimming association was aware of the norms and recommended only three players — Elvis, Liza and Rajib — who could represent the state. “We have clearly mentioned the criteria against the recommended players. It is upto the state Olympic association to decide whom to send and whom to omit. These talks of being partisan are baseless,” Sharma said.

Asked about the prospects of the team, ASA sources were clearly not very optimistic. “Let us hope for the best. The contingent comprises several untested faces,” one of them said.