Granting trial to Sushil may be tricky: WFI chief
New Delhi, May 13: Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) president Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh asserted on Friday that holding a trial between Sushil Kumar and rsingh Yadav to decide India's representative in the 74kg freestyle category for the Rio Olympics may be a tricky affair as it would encourage other grapplers to demand trials in their respective weight divisions.
Sushil approached the Prime Minister on Friday, demanding a trial for deciding India's representative in the 74kg freestyle category. The double olympic medalist had earlier approached the sports ministry on the issue. Sushil has also launched an online campaign, appealing for a trial with videos and posts on his Twitter handle.
Brij Bhushan, who appeared to be displeased with Sushil for creating a ruckus over the issue, indicated that a section of WFI officials are not in favour of holding a selection trial, but refused to rule out the possibility given Sushil's contribution to Indian wrestling.
"Before the 2004 Olympics, Kripa Shankar had also appealed to the court against Yogeshwar Dutt. Then the Delhi High Court had ruled that the wrestler who has bagged the quota place should go to the Olympics. According to the rules, the quota place goes to the country, not a particular wrestler. But it has been the practice in Idnia that the quota winner goes to the Olympics. That is the rule we have always followed," Brij Bhushan told IANS.
"If we allow Sushil to have a trial, then the matter may not remain confined to just the 74kg division. Then wrestlers in other categories may also start demanding trials. It has been the practice in India that the quota winner generally goes for the Olympics. We will have meeting in this regard next week and decide on the issue.
"rsingh had won the Olympic quota. He is also the more experienced wrestler in the 74kg category. If any other wrestler has raised such kind of demands, then we would made our decison by now. But Sushil has immense contribution towards the sport. He has taken Indian wrestling to another level. He is a superstar of the sport. So we cannot take a hasty decision. But Sushil's achievements are all in the 66kg division. The federation and selectors will keep the tiol interest in mind while taking a decision," he added.
"However, the possibility of holding a trial cannot be rulked out at this stage." IANS
