CHENNAI: Even as the senior national championship being organised by the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) commenced in Pune, Maharashtra on Monday, the Railway Sports Promotion Board (RSPB) announced a 30-member squad for another nationals to be held in Jaipur from February 2 to 5. As was reported by this daily, multiple World Championship medallist Vinesh Phogat was named in the squad in the 55kg weight category. The RSPB selection trials were held at Kapurthala.
Interestingly, the RSPB is hosting the Jaipur event being organised by the ad-hoc committee, which is looking after the sport in the country after WFI was abstained from functioning by the sports ministry.
Meanwhile, on the first day of the tournament, men's freestyle competitions were held in all 10 weight categories in Pune. The event though was devoid of star wrestlers as most of them are either employed with Indian Railways or three armed forces (Services Sports Control Board), the organisers claimed that 23 state associations have been taking part in the competition.
"Only Odisha and Punjab have not sent the entries. Mizoram cited unavoidable reasons for their absence while Assam sent the entries but could not reach Pune. Pondicherry wrestlers are also taking part in the championships," Sanjay Kumar Singh, the WFI president, told this daily.
Apparently happy with the turnout, the federation chief added, "Country's wrestlers wanted the competition to begin and we are happy that it has started with the national championships." He also informed that the WFI will call an annual general body meeting soon to discuss the way forward.
Speaking on another championship and wrestlers' participation in it, he said, "We want wrestlers to get tournaments. If some of the participants from our event want to compete in the Jaipur national then we don't have any objection."
Those in the know of things claimed that top 16 wrestlers in each Olympic weight category from this nationals will be eligible to compete in the 2024 National Games scheduled in Uttarakhand.
Participation not clear yet
The ad-hoc panel chaired by Bhupender Singh Bajwa is expected to hold a meeting at the IOA Bhawan in New Delhi on Tuesday to take stock of the situation. It is learnt that the RSPB representatives have also been called for the meeting as the panel wanted to know about the preparations being made for the nationals.
While wrestlers from the RSPB and SSCB are set to compete in the championship, the attendance of the participants in the event is expected to be low as most of the state units preferred to send their teams to the WFI's nationals. Sources told this daily that apart from Punjab, Odisha and Assam, only rival factions of respective state associations are expected to send their teams for the Jaipur tournament. An ad-hoc body source said the participation could get clear only after the meeting.
