Indian wrestling fraternity todayexpressed shock and surprise at the IOC's move to drop thesport from the 2020 Olympic programme, with London medalwinners fearing the decision could halt the rising profile ofthe game in the country.
In a sudden development, the International OlympicCommittee's Executive Board in its meeting at Lausanne todaydecided to remove wrestling from the 2020 Olympics.
"I don't see any reason why IOC decided to drop wrestlingfrom the 2020 Olympic programme. I am still finding itdifficult to come to terms with the news," Sushil Kumar, whowon a silver in London Olympics in 66 kg freestyle event, toldPTI.
"In my view, the IOC would find it difficult to remove itfrom the list given the sport's huge popularity across theglobe. It's an old sport and famous worldwide," said Sushilwho created history by becoming the first Indian to winback-to-back Olympic medals.
Asked if he feels that wrestling can come back when theIOC votes on the inclusion of a sport in its Executive Boardmeeting later in the year, he said, "Yes, I am confident,wrestling will remain part of the Olympic Games."
Sushil's childhood friend and London Olympics bronzemedallist, Yogeshwar Dutt said the decision would be a "bigsetback" for the upcoming crop of wrestlers.
"I am extremely disappointed to hear the news. Wrestlinghas made India a force to reckon with in the Olympic arena andthe IOC has dropped a worldwide famous sport from its list.
It's a shocking news to me," said Dutt.
"What about the upcoming wrestlers? What about theirfuture? Sushil won medals in Beijing and London and I won itin London too. We are targeting the 2016 Rio Olympics butthere are other young wrestlers who are preparing for the nextedition. What about them? They would become aimless after thissudden decision," added Dutt.