WFI not keen on trial, prefers Narsingh Yadav for Olympic berth
New Delhi: Sushil Kumar’s fight for an Olympic berth suffered another blow on Wednesday with the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) strongly hinting that they would prefer Narsingh Yadav for the Rio by insisting on not having a trial given the quota winner’s “consistent performances”.
Following the Delhi High Court directive, a special WFI committee, formed on the instruction of the court, held a meeting with the two-time Olympic medallist on Wednesday, to sort out as to who between Sushil and Narsingh would represent India in the men’s 74kg freestyle category at the mega-event in August.
“Sushil has put forward his views before the committee and has maintained what he has been saying since the very beginning that he should get a chance to undergo a trial,” WFI president Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh told reporters here.
“We have told him that ‘you have put Indian wrestling at a pedestal and we cannot ignore your contribution and we all respect you’. But on the other hand, there is another wrestler who has brought the Olympic quota and also has been giving consistent performances. So, can we be unfair to him also?,” Brij Bhushan added.
Asked what if the High Court, during its next hearing on May 27, instructs the Federation to take a final call, Brij Bhushan said, “The Federation has taken its decision.”
The meeting chaired by the WFI president included senior vice president ID Nanavati, secretary general and the chief coach, besides Sushil. Sushil’s mentor and father-in-law Satpal was also present in the meeting.
Asked if WFI got convinced by Sushil’s opinion, the president said: “Convince hone ka koi sawal hi nahin uthta hai (there is no question of getting convinced).
“Whatever is our view point on the matter, we will submit it to the court in our reply.”
On why there has been a communication gap between Sushil and WFI after Narsingh had qualified almost eight months back in last September, Brij Bhushan said, “I have never told Sushil or for that matter any other perosn that WFI will hold the trials. Whenever I have been asked by the media if trials would be conducted, I had always said that if I talk about the issue now it would hamper the training of the wrestlers and that’s why I never spoke about it. I said when the time will come to take a decision, I would decide on the matter.”
The WFI president said if the Court orders us to conduct a trial, this matter would not stop there. (PTI)