A day before the women’s competition at the Senior National Wrestling Championships here, A. Chandanasree of Telangana and her coach Rajesh Saroha were tense.
Chandanasree won the state trials organised in Telangana that sent the team for the Pune nationals conducted by the suspended Wrestling Federation of India (WFI), but coach Saroha said she was shocked to find that WFI officials had entered some other competitor in her weight category (50kg). Chandanasree’s ordeal had just started.
“She told them she topped the trials in Telangana, but they refused to give her entry. After much protest, they decided to take her trials on the spot, first in 65kg and when she lost then put her through another trial bout in 53kg, which she won,” said Saroha, who trains Chandanasree at his academy in Sonepat.
“They (WFI officials) did not even think twice in making a 50kg wrestler fight with a 65kg girl. What would have happened if she had got injured?”
Saroha came to Jaipur on Saturday and explained his problem to the ad hoc committee, requesting an entry for her.
“If there is an authentic case, we will definitely look into it. Many wrestlers are facing such issues because WFI created confusion among wrestlers and went ahead with the nationals in Pune,” an ad hoc committee official said.
Wrestlers with such grievances from the Pune nationals — Jan 29-31 — was common on the first day of the tournament here. Technical officials were busy throughout the day trying to sort out entries and verify credentials.
While Chandanasree’s case is being considered, Rajasthan’s Ankit Kanwar Shekhawat, who competed in 76kg in Pune and won silver, had to return disappointed. Like some other states, the Rajasthan unit organised two state trials. And to make matters worse, it was held on the same day — in Kota and Bharatpur, almost 400km apart by road.
“We had no knowledge which state trials to participate in. Our entry was sent for Pune. We later came to know that only the ad hoc panel has the mandate to hold the nationals and send teams for international competitions; then we came here,” Ankit’s sister Ankush Shekhawat.
But entries for Telengana here had been submitted. “We hope there are clear instructions which state trial one should compete in. I don’t want my sister to go through this for the junior nationals which is about to be held soon,” she said.
There was similar problem for Delhi wrestlers too as the WFI-backed state body sent entries only for the Pune nationals. The ad hoc committee received complaints and has decided to give a chance to aggrieved wrestlers.
“This is the first time two senior nationals are being held and wrestlers should not suffer,” said a Greco-Roman wrestler from Delhi who won 63kg bronze here on Saturday. “We approached officials here because our entries were not sent by the state federation,” said the wrestler who also competed in Pune and won silver.
“We had no choice but to compete there because the state body was holding trials. You can’t compete in two events so close. The body gets tired. It should be sorted out because we have Asia Championships and Olympic qualification tournaments coming up,” he said.
Greco-Roman gold medallists (Olympic weights): 60kg Gyanendra, 67kg Ashu, 77kgVikas, 87kg Sunil Kumar, 97kg Nitesh, 130kg Naveen.