Now Geeta, Babita want to train at national camp

Sabi Hussain

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, May 17

It seems Haryana’s famous Phogat sisters, Geeta and Babita, have had enough of basking in the glory of the Aamir Khan-starrer Dangal, which was based on their real-life success story. The two sisters, who had been busy promoting the movie across the country since its release in December, want to return to active wrestling after fulfilling their promotional and sponsorship commitments.

According to the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI), they have put up a “strange” request — they want permission to join the Lucknow national camp, which they had snubbed earlier.

Further, they’ve requested WFI that if they can’t be allowed back at the Lucknow camp, they be allowed to train at the Sports Authority of India’s regional centre in Sonepat.  This, again, is a strange request because Geeta and Babita know well that only male wrestlers (freestyle and Greco-Roman) are allowed to train in Sonepat. An earlier demand for a training camp in Sonepat by women wrestlers had been rejected outright by WFI, citing disciplinary and societal issues.

What about Dad?

WFI’s officials say that it’s strange that Geeta and Babita now wish to join the national camp because, only a couple of months ago, they had informed WFI that they wanted to train under their father and coach, Mahavir Singh Phogat. 

At that time, the two sisters had preferred their father’s coaching methods over the training provided by the chief women’s coach, Kuldeep Malik, at the Lucknow camp. Geeta and Babita had contended that with important events lined up over the next two years — including the World Championships, Commonwealth Games and Asian Games — returning to their father’s proven methods would be very useful for them.

However, fellow wrestlers believed that the two sisters had excused themselves from the Lucknow camp only to get enough time to promote Dangal. 

“We can’t force anyone to attend the camp. They are seniors and if they decide their own training methods, we have to allow them,” WFI president Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh recently responded to the charges that WFI was favouring the two sisters.  

Missing Asian meet

Geeta and Babita missed the Asian Championship in New Delhi earlier this month, citing injuries. However, WFI and the women’s chief coach did not have any knowledge about their injuries. WFI had not even received any medical certificate from them. WFI, however, chose to remain silent despite learning about Geeta shooting in Spain for a reality TV show, Khatron Ke Khiladi 8, even as the other wrestlers slogged hard at the national camp.

But now Geeta and Babita want to compete hard, with an eye on the World Championships in Paris in August. And they want to train at the national camp, not with their father at their ancestral akhada in Bhiwani.

The reasons?

So, what has changed for Geeta and Babita? According to a source close to them, India’s impressive show at the Asian Championship, where the country’s female wrestlers put up their best-ever show with six medals, has caused them to change their minds. Also, WFI would soon be appointing a new foreign coach, most probably a former Olympics or World Championships medallist from Japan, to coach the women’s team.

“I don’t have any problem if they want to train at the camp. All the girls who won medals at the Asian Championship were part of the camp. This might have influenced their decision,” Mahavir said.

But, this time, WFI has decided to be stern and not quietly accept their request to rejoin the national camp. While the sisters have sympathisers who are demanding another exception for them, there is a strong opinion that WFI should not give in to the two sisters’ demands.

“Now they are realising the importance of the camp when India’s female wrestlers have done a terrific job at the Asian Championship,” a WFI official said. “Not long ago, they wanted to train under their father because they didn’t have faith in the coaching techniques at the national camp. Now they want to join it because Malik has produced results. We’ll look into the seriousness of their request.”