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New Delhi, They brought laurels to the country, but their time is past, for they are no longer medal prospects at the Olympic Games. The Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) wants wrestlers such as Sushil Kumar, Yogeshwar Dutt and Geeta Phogat to make way for the next generation. This is clear from the revised list of wrestlers to be funded by the Target Olympic Podium Scheme (TOPS), focussing on the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
In the list submitted to the Sports Ministry, WFI has excluded two-time Olympics medallist Sushil, London Games bronze medallist Yogeshwar, 2010 Commonwealth Games gold medallist Geeta and her younger sister Babita Phogat, a 2014 Commonwealth Games gold winner. Rahul Aware, Amit Kumar Dahiya and Praveen Rana (men’s freestyle) have also been removed from the TOPS list.
All these wrestlers were part of the original TOPS list, prepared in 2015-16, to fund the training of the Indian athletes for the Rio Olympics.
Vinesh, Sakshi in list
For the Tokyo Games, the wrestlers nominated for TOPS funding include Sandeep Tomar (men’s 57kg), Bajrang (men’s 65kg), Jitendra (men’s 74kg), Ritu Phogat (women’s 45kg), Vinesh Phogat (women’s 48kg), Sakshi Malik (women’s 58kg) and Divya Kakran (69kg). Of these, only Bajrang, Vinesh and Sakshi were included in the original list of 2015-16.
At the Rio Games, India were represented by Yogeshwar, Sandeep (freestyle), Ravinder Khatri, Hardeep Singh (Greco-Roman) and Vinesh, Babita and Sakshi (freestyle).
“The list has been prepared by WFI’s coaches after assessing the performance of each wrestler in the national camp and the tournament they participated in after the Rio Games. For our coaches, these are the medal prospects,” WFI assistant secretary Vinod Tomar told The Tribune.
“The list is subject to further changes in the future depending upon the performance and injury issues of any of these wrestlers,” he added. “But, as of now, these are our best bets for next year’s CWG and Asian Games and Tokyo 2020. We included the name of Sakshi despite there being some debate over her continuation in wrestling following her marriage.”
Sushil, Yogi
Asked about the exclusion of Sushil and Yogeshwar, Tomar said the two are nearing retirement age. “The two weren’t part of the national camp and didn’t appear for the selection trials for next month’s Asian Championships,” he said. “Yogeshwar had already informed WFI that Rio will be his last Olympics. There’s no clarity about his participation in CWG and Asian Games. Sushil, too, has become a national observer. In fact, the government would have consulted him on his future plans before naming him an observer. His active participation in tournaments would amount to conflict of interest.”
‘No more promising’
“Geeta and Babita don’t look promising anymore. Geeta has been the flagbearer of Indian women’s wrestling for long, but now she has settled in her life. She isn’t competing regularly. Babita has been grappling with injury issues and her past few performances don’t inspire confidence,” Tomar added.
When Geeta and Babita’s father, Mahavir Singh Phogat, was informed about his daughters’ exclusion from the list, he said, “WFI did the right thing. It’s time for Vinesh and Ritu to carry forward the legacy.”
