CHENNAI: A few weeks after renowned wrestler Vinesh Phogat was not allowed to compete at the National Open Ranking Series, she has turned her attention to international competitions. The double world championship medallist, who had to seek court intervention to compete in the Asian Games trials last month, has written a mail to the Sports Authority of India requesting them to submit her name for international competitions in July and August.
In her mail, which was also copied to the WFI, Vinesh requested to submit her entry in the 53kg for three upcoming events — Grand Prix of Spain (July 10-12), Polyak Imre, Varga Janos & Kozma Istvan Memorial Ranking Series in Budapest, Hungary (July 15-19) and Poland Open in Warsaw (August 26 to 30). She also said that she would not need any funds and would bear the entire cost of all three competitions along with her support team comprising four individuals including her new-born son and husband-cum-coach Somvir Rathee. Interestingly, the last date of submission of entries for the first two tournaments already expired as WFI has not responded to Vinesh's request. It was also learnt that the SAI to is silent on this.
"We are not sending teams for the Spain and Poland events. As far as the Ranking Series is concerned, we have already sent entries of three wrestlers in the 53kg weight division as a national federation can field three grapplers in a weight category in such events," a top WFI official told this daily. "It's the prerogative of the federation to send entries and we have sent entries of those wrestlers, who have been competing in various events including nationals for the past few months."
Speaking on Vinesh's request, the official said, "The court asked us to allow her participation in the selection trials and we abided by it. Besides, the matter is still pending in court and will come for hearing next month."
According to the mail sent by Vinesh, her support team also included her physiotherapist and sparring partner. In her mail, she also mentioned the last date of submissions for the three events. For the Spain tournament, the deadline was June 10 while for the Ranking Series, the last date was June 15. The deadline for submitting entries for the Poland tournament is August 5.
Given the situation, Vinesh, if permitted, can now only participate in the Warsaw competition. It needs to be seen if her entry is sent.
