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Bajrang Punia banned, Phogat turns politician, WFI suspension, litigations, and lost medals: How Indian wrestling stagnated in 2024
IMAGE: Aman Sehrawat won the bronze medal in the 57 kg freestyle wrestling event at the Paris Olympics. Photograph: Kind courtesy Aman Sehrawat/X
In an ideal world, politics and sport are not meant to be mixed. But then the world of Indian wrestling was far from ideal in 2024 with Vinesh Phogat’s Olympic dejection and the never-ending administrative chaos pulling down a once flourishing sport.
From the time when Wrestling Federation of India elections were held, exactly a year back, to the recent National Championships in Benglauru, Indian wrestling has seemed like a rudderless ship.
IMAGE: Aman Sehrawat celebrates victory over Puerto Rico’s Darian Toi Cruz in the Olympics men’s Freestyle 57kg wrestling bronze medal bout in Paris Olympics. Photograph: Kind Courtesy Paris Olympics/X
Not too long ago, wrestling had developed into a sport that promised unprecedented Olympic success but cut to Paris 2024, Aman Sehrawat’s bronze medal was what saved the delegation the blushes after Phogat’s seemingly destined gold slipped through her grasp due to a cruel twist of fate.
She was, for better or for worse, the most intriguing story of Indian wrestling this year.
She punished herself to fight in a lower weight category after her preferred class was already booked for the Olympics, downed the then unbeaten Japanese legend Yui Susaki in her opening round in Paris and then ended up disqualified for being 100gm overweight on the morning of the final.
A day later, she gave up on her sporting career, declaring that the fight had left her.
IMAGE: Wrestlers Vinesh Phogat and Bajrang Punia (left) join Congress in the presence of party general secretary in-charge (organisation) KC Venugopal, at AICC headquarters in New Delhi, September 6, 2024. Photograph: ANI Photo
She wasn’t done though. Following an emotionally overwhelming homecoming which included a custom-made gold medal from Haryana’s khap panchayats, Phogat joined the Congress party, fought the state assembly elections and managed to become an MLA in her maiden electoral outing from Julana constituency.
She wasn’t the only one in her fraternity who decided on politics as future.
Bajrang Punia too joined the Congress but he did not get the same returns as Phogat.
His position was that of a Kisan morcha head and his wrestling career was left stalled after coping a four-year ban for failure to submit dope samples during training camps. This was after he failed to qualify for Paris, a new low in the career of the celebrated grappler, who fetched a bronze in the Tokyo Games.
The two maintained all along that their fight against alleged sexual harassment of women wrestlers by former WFI head Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh was an apolitical one.
But their fellow protestor and Rio Olympics bronze-winner Sakshi Malik sought to dispute that soon after they joined congress.She went on to allege in her book that the the duo’s “greed” punctured their protest against Sharan Singh.
Next generation affected by chaos
IMAGE: Antim Panghal found herself in a soup following a disciplinary breach at the Olympic Games’ athletes village in Paris. Photograph: Kind Courtesy SAI Media/X
The likes of Anshu Malik and Antim Panghal, who were touted as the next big thing in Indian wrestling, cut a sorry figure in Paris but Aman carried forward the rich legacy of the Chhatrasal stadium by winning the men’s freestyle 57kg bronze.
It was a category which 2020 Tokyo Games silver-medallist Ravi Dahiya made his own. But Dahiya vanished from the scene due to spate of injuries that affected his form.
The Tokyo campaign, which yielded two medals in wrestling, should have been the catalyst for better infrastructure and coaching for Indian wrestler.
However, the developments in the last 24 months have prevented growth.
The potential is still there and the biggest example was Indian U17 women team’s world championship victory in Amman, Jordan in September.
The country had been aiming for a podium finish for long and the dream finally materialised this year. Out of 10 possible medals, India won eight medals, including five gold medal and one silver.
Finishing ahead of powerhouse Japan and impressive Kazakhstan is no mean feat.
IMAGE: Brij Bhushan with Wrestling Federation of India president Sanjay Singh, right. Photograph: Kind courtesy ANI/X
However, the unending litigations have tied the hands of WFI which is now struggling to carry out day to day affairs of the body.
The team led by Sanjay Singh, that won the elections, stands suspended by the Sports Ministry.
The ground of suspension is announcing Nationals without following a 15-day notice period in December 2023. But the fact remains that if WFI had followed the notice period, wrestlers would have lost a crucial year because by the time the 15-day period would have completed, year 2024 would have started.
WFI was forced to withdraw the team from the senior World Championship owing to pending litigation by Sakshi and and her wrestler husband Satyawart Kadian.
Eventually after government’s intervention a team was finally sent.
No proper coaching camp has been organised in the last two years, the efforts to revive the Pro Wrestling League are on hold, grants and sponsorships have stopped, no foreign/personal coaches have been engaged and there is no planning to take the sport forward.
If the situation could be summed up in a line, Indian wrestling is stagnant for now.
