Ace wrestlers Bajrang Punia and Ravi Dahiya won’t get a direct entry into the final rounds of the selection trials for the Commonwealth Games and the Asian Games when the national federation holds the selection rounds.
This comes after murmurs among upcoming grapplers during the recent Asian Championship trials, PTI reported. During the trials for the Mongolia event, the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) had given direct entries to Bajrang and Dahiya for the spot-clinching final in their respective weight categories, while the others slogged through the draw.
While no one complained officially, Wrestling Federation of India chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh has reportedly assured the wrestlers that the arrangements would be better next time.
"No one will get direct entry to final this time. All will have to come through draw for the CWG and Asiad trials. We have not received any request for special treatment as of today but if star wrestlers want some benefit, given their status, the committee can consider but definitely they will not get direct entry into final," a WFI source was quoted as saying by PTI. "Will it be fair on a wrestler who wins four bouts and still sits at home?"
WFI is expected to ask the likes of Bajrang and Ravi to feature from the semi-finals. Since the Tokyo Olympics, Ravi, who bagged Silver, has been dominant while Bajrang has been a little out of touch.
While some like the thought of all wrestlers going for trials, Bajrang’s personal coach believes that there is nothing wrong in giving special treatment to some to help protect them from injuries.
"If you have four wrestlers whose capability to win international medals is beyond doubt, they must be protected from injuries. Why ask them to play full draw. They are there because they have proved their worth," said Sujeet Maan, personal coach of Bajrang.
"I personally feel wrestlers who won either gold or silver at the Asian Championship can be asked to play just one bout, the final against the winner of the draw. "No one plays to lose. The new wrestlers just want to defeat these stars but our second line is still not mature enough to win medals at global events. So why risk injuries to our real medal contenders," said Maan, adding that eventually they would follow whatever the WFI decides.
Respected coach Virender Singh also said that the WFI must keep in mind the overall benefit of the sport. "Look, main thing is to win medal, not just participation. These 3-4 guys go for medals. Others have competed in the past in same categories but did they win medals? These boys are doing well and again asked to appear in trials, why?," asked Virender.
"By consistently managing weight, their muscle go weak, kidneys get affected. They have to stay empty stomach and then sweat it out to maintain weight for trials, it affects body adversely. Doing it again and again is not good for their health. "Their recovery is very important since they do same weight lose drill ahead of competitions. If at all the federation wants to encourage the second line, what they can do is to have trials of other wrestlers on one day and the winner can compete with the established one on the next day, so they are fresh for the tough bout," he suggested.
(With PTI Inputs)
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)