No place for medal-winning grapplers in Khelo India School Games
Vinayak Padmadeo
Tribune News Service
New Delhi, February 5
The Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) has raised objections about the way wrestling was conducted in the Khelo India School Games (KISG). The wrestling competition officially got over on Sunday with Haryana topping the charts with 24 medals. But WFI is still looking for answers as to how some of the top grapplers in the cadet (16-17) and U-17 categories failed to make it to the draw. The likes of Akash Dahiya, who won the freestyle Asian Cadet gold medal in the 58kg category in 2017, and Rohit, who won the freestyle Cadet Nationals in 63kg in 2017, were left out of the championship.
Rohit had also pocketed a bronze medal in the Asian Cadet Championships and represented India at the World Cadets Championships in 2017. The surprising exclusion happened due to a break in communication. In all, 12 grapplers, who had won nationals or had represented India at the international meets, had been left out. Originally, their names were to be sent to Khelo India School Games organisers as part of the Delhi team. But the School Games Federation of India (SGFI) sent a different entry for the Delhi state team. On knowing that the likes of Rohit and Dahiya had been left out, WFI president Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, in a letter dated January 27 to SAI’s deputy director general Sandip Pradhan, sought their inclusion in the competition.
“…it has come to our knowledge that the Delhi state team has already been selected by the Delhi Government and the above wrestlers were waiting for the selection trials to be conducted by the Delhi State Wrestling Association,” Singh wrote.
State of confusion
“In view of the above position, you are requested to kindly allow the above (mentioned) wrestlers to participate in the wrestling event in the interest of promotion of the game of wrestling in the country. The necessary documents of these wrestlers have already been submitted to the SAI office,” Singh added.
The KISG organisers, though, did not include the grapplers in the draw saying the names were not included because the last date for sending the entries had already passed.
Also, the names of a few wrestlers who had appeared in the U-19 School Nationals in 2017 were removed by the organisers as they had no inkling of the WFI rules that allow U-17 grapplers to participate in U-19 category.
The problem with the wrestling competition did not end with the refusal of entries only. In some of the weight categories, there were as few as three grapplers in the fray as opposed to a minimum draw of 16 grapplers in any competition.
Bronze without a win!
In the 42kg freestyle category, there were only three participants, which meant all three were assured of a medal even before the bouts began.
The gold was won by Maharashtra’s Nikhil Mali, who won both his bouts. Haryana’s Amit took the silver, while Maharashtra’s Krushna Ghodke went home with a bronze medal even as he lost both of his bouts. Similarly, in the 58kg freestyle category, there were only seven entries. Same was the case in Greco-Roman’s 42kg category.
Age fraud?
Meanwhile, it has been learnt that WFI will request a distal radius (wrist) fusion test on the medalists of the wrestling event as they suspect many participants to be overage. As per the standard protocol, wrist MRIs are used to determine the correct age of an individual.
Missing from action
Abhishek Dhaka (Free Style, 42kg): Bronze medal in 2017 Cadet Nationals; 7th place finish in the 2017 Asian Cadet Championships
Deepak Kr Ahlawat (FS, bronze in 2017 Cadet Nationals)
Rohit (FS, 63kg): Gold in the 2017 Cadet Nationals; bronze in 2017 Asian Cadet Championships; 7th place finish in the 2017 World Cadet Championships
Ashish (FS, 100kg): Bronze in 2017 Cadet Nationals
Rahul (FS, 58kg): 5th place in 2017 Asian Cadet Championships
Himanshu Kumar: Bronze in the 2017 Cadet Nationals, 5th place in 2017 Asian Cadet Championships
Shubham (FS, 58kg): Gold in the 2017 Cadet Nationals
Sheetal (FS, 69kg): Bronze in the 2017 Cadet Nationals.
Akash Dahiya (FS, 58kg): Gold in the 2017 Asian Cadet Championships
Jatin (GR, 50kg): Silver in the 2017 Cadet Nationals
Anirudh Kumar (Greeco-Roman, 100kg): Silver in the 2017 School Nationals in U-19
Pravesh (GR, 58kg): 7th place in the 2017 Asian Cadet Championships
