CHENNAI: Despite the United World Wrestling (UWW) lifting its suspension on the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) on February 13, confusion remains on the governance of the sport in the country. But the ad-hoc panel of the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) continues to function. The controversy refuses to die down affecting hundreds of wrestlers, especially the youngsters. They suffered yet another setback when the proposed U-15 and U-20 national championship in Patiala was cancelled by the ad-hoc body citing the ongoing farmers’ protest.
Yet, the Sports Authority of India (SAI) managed to fund overseas exposure trips of a few wrestlers so that they can train unabatedly for the Olympic qualifiers and other important tournaments. To begin with, the ad-hoc panel recommended names of Greco-Roman wrestlers, who clinched gold in their respective weight categories in the Jaipur nationals, to train in Baku, Azerbaijan. The team comprising nine wrestlers and three support staff left the country on February 15. It will end on March 5.
Apart from them, a few freestyle and women grapplers are training abroad with the SAI financing their trips. One of them is Sarita Mor (57kg), who is training at the US Olympic Paralympic Training Center (USOPTC) in Colorado Springs, along with coach Rahul Maan. Sarita along with her husband-cum-coach left the country on February 6 and is expected to return on Feb 26. The SAI sanctioned Anshu Malik’s 26-day foreign training camp at the Nippon Sports Science University in Yokohama, Kanagawa, Japan. She has been accompanied by her father-cum-coach Dharamvir Singh and physiotherapist Dharamveer Yadav. Their camp is from February 5 to March 1.
The SAI had also sanctioned a 33-day foreign training camp for Deepak Punia (86kg) at the Cliff Keen Wrestling Club, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA. According to the information provided by the SAI, Punia trained from Jan 13 to Feb 15. A 31-day camp was also sanctioned for Aman Sehrawat (57kg) from Jan 20 to Feb 17 in Makhachkala, Russia along with his physiotherapist Naitik Prakash Vohra.
“Govt funded Rs 12.08cr for their international exposure in 2023. These were for 13 competitions, including World Championships for the seniors, U23, U20 and U17 age groups, Asian C’ships for U23, U20, U17 and U15 age groups. The cost of national camps in India and overseas, amounting to Rs 92.77 lakh was underwritten by the govt. Besides, TOPS provided 10 elite wrestlers support for overseas training and equipment in excess of Rs 86.75 lakh,” SAI said.