CHENNAI: Most of them are 20 years of age or below and unemployed. These were grounds on which they were refused visas by the US Embassy in New Delhi for the U23 World Wrestling Championships scheduled in Las Vegas from October 12 to 18. Since the refusal on Wednesday, these nine wrestlers have been running from pillar to post hoping for a miracle, which unfortunately never happened.
Among these nine wrestlers, five compete in the men's Greco-Roman style. With nothing transpiring in their favour on Friday and their flight scheduled for Saturday morning, they have given up the hopes. All the men wrestlers were camping at SAI Centre in Lucknow and reached the national capital on Wednesday for visa interviews. Since then, they have been staying in their respective akharas (wrestling centres) near Delhi and travelling to the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) headquarters and US Embassy every day.
Sachin Kumar, who competes in the 82kg weight category, is one among them. He has been staying at an akhara in Bahadurgarh, around 40km from Delhi. "Today (Friday) was the third day. Once again we reached the WFI office and stayed there till afternoon before heading to the Embassy. But everything went in vain. We have not been eating and sleeping properly. Our families are worried now," Sachin told this daily.
Nikhil Malik (GR 97kg) has taken shelter in his akhara in Sonepat. He travelled 70km every day to Delhi for the past three days. Unfortunately he is the only GR wrestler, who is above 23 but was not given a visa. "I am 23 and this was my last opportunity to compete at the U23 Worlds. I am the only GR wrestler from the lot who was declined the visa despite being above 20. During the interview, the lady at the counter asked me about my job status. When I told her that I am jobless, my visa was rejected," Nikhil said.
Samarth Gajanan Mhakave, Dheeraj Kumar Malik and Hardeep are the other wrestlers who were denied visas along with women wrestlers Parveen, Ahilya Shatrughn Shinde, Neha Sharma and Neha. Besides, Vaishnavi Patil and freestyle wrestler Amit too couldn't get the visas as their passports were damaged.
The WFI, however, said they got a call from the Embassy on Friday morning and the caller asked the federation to send nine wrestlers as early as possible. "Soon enough we got a call again and they asked us to wait. After that no message either from the Embassy or the USA Wrestling," said a WFI official.
With the women's team scheduled to depart on October 12, the wrestlers still have a chance to compete if given visas but for Greco-Roman players it's all but over.
