NANDINI NAGAR (GONDA): Despite the Wrestling Federation of India practically barring her from participation in the ongoing Senior Open Ranking Tournament, Vinesh Phogat landed in Ayodhya on Monday afternoon. Nandini Nagar, the venue for the tournament in Gonda, Uttar Pradesh, is only a few kilometres away from Ayodhya.
WFI sources confirmed that Vinesh has reached Ayodhya and is staying at a hotel. The verification process for the women wrestlers will be held on Monday evening (scheduled verification time is between 5-7pm). Earlier, the WFI issued a lengthy show-cause notice to Vinesh and informed her that she is ineligible to contest until June 26, the mandatory six-month period after coming out of international retirement.
Vinesh had announced her decision to come out of retirement in December last year. The WFI sources also said that Vinesh has replied to the notice. "We received the reply today (Monday) at around 12 afternoon. She only informed that neither the International Testing Agency (ITA) nor the United World Wrestling (UWW) has prohibited her from participating. However, she didn't reply on other issues. She also didn't attach documents supporting her claim," a WFI source told this daily.
The source said that the federation will respond to Vinesh's reply. "We have raised several issues including her participation in two weight categories during selection trials for the Olympic Games Qualifier in March 2024 and her failure to make weight ahead of the 50kg final during the Paris Games. She has not replied to these issues. Besides, the WFI will also send her reply to the ITA and United World Wrestling for verification as she has not attached any documents with her reply," added the source.
The ranking series began on Sunday with competitions in the men's freestyle. Monday saw bouts in the men's Greco-Roman style. The women's wrestling will be held on Tuesday.Vinesh's arrival has spiced up the tournament, which is only expected to get more interesting with every move the wrestler makes here in Gonda, a stronghold of former WFI president Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh against whom she has levelled sexual harrasment charges.