CHENNAI: The wrestlers’ historic protest at Jantar Mantar in January meant the now-suspended Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) had to postpone the ongoing National Open Ranking Tournament in Gonda, Uttar Pradesh. The tournament was later held but as the protest continued with the former WFI chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh being booked by the Delhi police and later charge-sheeted, it remains the only event to be held in the country to date.
Six months have passed and no national championships have been organised so far. If compared with 2022 when the WFI had organised more than 20 tournaments, it looks highly unlikely that the wrestlers will be able to get as many competitions in 2023.
“Till 2017, the WFI used to organise only three nationals (senior, junior and cadet). Between 2017 to 2021, the federation increased the number of tournaments to seven or eight by including events like U-23 nationals and traditional wrestling,” an official, who has been associated with the WFI for a long time, told this daily.
With seven Indian wrestlers competing at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and two of them — Ravi Dahiya (57kg) and Bajrang Punia (65kg) — winning medals, the WFI prepared a roadmap for the 2024 and 2028 Olympics. “In 2021 after the Games which were delayed by a year due to Covid, we planned to have more nationals and other tournaments. We planned 25 events for 2022 and successfully organised 22. Five nationals (U-15, 17, 20, 23 and senior) were organised. Apart from them, 4 ranking tournaments and as many federation cups (all age groups except U-23) were held. Two Grands Prix were held. Three tournaments of beach wrestling, one traditional wrestling competition and other events were held,” added the official.
Given the international calendar, the official said that the aim was to complete all nationals by March so that the federation has a pool of players in each weight category. These players used to represent the country in various international tournaments. When not competing, these wrestlers used to train in the national camp as well. However, that has not happened since January.
“The efforts paid dividends as 70 per cent of our wrestlers won medals at the Cadet Worlds. Antim Panghal became the only woman wrestler from the country to become U-20 world champion. Similar results were seen in the continental events. But that looks difficult now.”
Ex-coach feels SAI should also be held responsible
The issues ailing Indian wrestling will have long term impacts and former national coach and Arjuna awardee Kripashankar Patel minced no words on the fallouts of the existing situation. “Everybody has seen how the oversight committee organised trials. The wrestlers have to move the court. Neither I am against the protesting wrestlers nor I am favouring Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh. My contention is that only a federation can handle Indian wrestling. Let another person become the president but the WFI should start functioning otherwise irreparable loss will be caused,” Patel told this daily.
Patel even pointed fingers at Sports Authority of India (SAI) and said they too should be held responsible for the mess. He alleged that they might be trying to wrest control from the NSFs. “This has been going on for quite some time now. The WFI chief was strong and the resistance he offered made this public otherwise there are other NSFs who had surrendered. If these NSFs come under SAI, the sports will suffer. Recently, it sent a person as a manager with the touring wrestling team. That person is neither a wrestler nor has been associated with the sport. This can damage the sports to a greater extent.”
Wrestlers at the receiving end
With no tournaments, the biggest losers will be the wrestlers, said the coach. “Those who are employed with government agencies, PSUs and even private sectors, the medals in the tournaments helped them earn increments. The medals also help upcoming wrestlers to secure government jobs both with central and state governments. Besides, schools, colleges and universities have sports quotas.
Most of them have a system where a player can earn marks as an incentive for winning medals at the national and international levels. The wrestlers will miss these privileges in the absence of competitions,” added Patel.
As the wrestlers have officially called off their protest, Patel hoped that the Indian wrestling will be back on track sooner than later.