Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) former president Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh on Saturday expressed his disappointment with the performance of Indian wrestlers at the ongoing Hangzhou Asian Games. He said that India’s 19th Asian Games journey has been good, however, the wrestlers could have done better as their 5 bronze medals “should have been gold”.
“I congratulate the players because our overall performance has been good… We have won 5 medals in wrestling and all of them are bronze. One of our players is going to be in the finals which means that a silver is assured… But I think that these bronze medals should have been gold,” Brij Bhushan added.
Meanwhile, Deepak Punia won a silver medal at the Asian Games 2023 in the men’s 86kg freestyle wrestling division in Hangzhou on Saturday. Courtesy of the silver medal, India ended their campaign in wrestling at the Asian Games 2023 with six medals. All five other medals won by the Indian wrestlers in Hangzhou were bronze.
The former WFI chief has been accused of sexual harassment by the Indian wrestlers. Since then Indian wrestling suffered from the rift between the federation and a few wrestlers. Brij Bhusan said that the last 10 months have affected Indian wrestling and this could be the reason for Indian wrestlers’ disappointing performance.
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“Indian wrestling has been disturbed for the last 10 months… In winning these medals, the biggest contribution is of the parents, players and the dream with which the federation was working,” Brij Bhusan said further. Ace wrestlers Bajrang Punia, Vinesh Phogat, Sakshi Malik and others held protests against Brij Bhusan and still demanding Former WFI arrest.
Bajrang and Vinesh were given direct entry into the Asian Games by the ad-hoc committee as they were given an exemption from Asian Games selection trials considering their lack of match practice because of the protest.
Later, woman wrestler Antim Panghal raised questions over the exemption given to wrestlers Bajrang Punia and Vinesh Phogat for direct entry and asked for a fair trial. Many other wrestlers also demanded the same. Vinesh pulled out of the Asian Games after suffering a knee injury and Antim was given the opportunity to represent India at the Asian Games.
Bajrang bowed out of the Asian Games following a massive defeat in the men’s freestyle 65kg bronze medal match on Friday. United World Wrestling suspended the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) with immediate effect in the wake of a delay in holding elections. UWW took the decision as WFI “failed to conduct elections” in the specified duration.
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