“Protests derailed our preparations” - WFI President Sanjay Singh unhappy with overall performance, blames protests for poor show at 2024 Olympics
India has emerged as a global force in wrestling since Sushil Kumar clinched a historic bronze medal at the Beijing Olympics in 2008. Since then, Indian wrestlers have shone at global and continental events across age groups.
However, that glamor seemed a little dim at the 2024 Paris Olympics. The entire contingent faced one disappointment after another before Aman Sehrawat, the only Indian male wrestler to qualify for the Games, won bronze in the men's freestyle 57-kilogram category.
The 21-year-old thus ensured that Indian wrestlers maintain their track record of winning at least one medal at the Olympics since Sushil Kumar's feat at Beijing 2008.
While he praised Sehrawat, Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) president Sanjay Singh said he was expecting a minimum of five medals from the Indian wrestlers. He added that India could have registered its best Olympic performance in wrestling in Paris but was let down by the politics that had engulfed the sport last year.
"We are extremely proud of Aman for winning the bronze. He has maintained the trend of India winning medals in wrestling at every Olympics since 2012. But we are not happy with the overall performance," Sanjay Singh told Sportskeeda.
Several wrestlers, including Vinesh Phogat, protested against former WFI president Brij Bhushan Singh last year, accusing him of sexual harassment. Sanjay Singh, a close aide of Brij Bhushan, held those protests as the reason for India's poor overall campaign at the 2024 Summer Games.
"Our wrestlers could have won many more medals. The way we were planning things out, I was expecting at least five medals. But the protests derailed our preparations. The protests affected not just the wrestlers who were directly involved, but the entire wrestling community in the country. The entire wrestling program, including tournaments and training camps, was disturbed," Singh added.
The WFI chief also felt luck did not favor India during the Olympic qualifiers, ultimately affecting the medals tally in Paris. He was alluding to top Indian wrestlers Deepak Punia and Sujeet Kalkal getting caught up in the deluge in Dubai in April. They could not reach the Olympic qualifiers in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, on time.
"That was an unfortunate incident which deprived us of at least two medal chances at the Olympics," Singh said.
However, Punia and Kalkal received another chance in wrestling's final qualifying event (held in Istanbul, Turkey) in May, where they failed to book their tickets to Paris.
Apart from Aman Sehrawat's exploits in the French capital, Indian wrestling was in the news for all the wrong reasons.
Vinesh Phogat controversy at Paris Olympics 2024
Vinesh Phogat was disqualified ahead of the final of the women's 50-kilogram category as she was overweight by 100 grams on the morning of the title clash.
Vinesh had appealed against the decision to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) and requested a joint silver medal, which was ruled against the wrestler on Wednesday, August 14.
"It is unfortunate that we have missed out on a silver medal. But rules are rules. We have to abide by the verdict," Sanjay Singh said.
The Haryana-born dethroned the reigning unbeaten Olympic and world champion Yui Susaki of Japan in the first round at the Paris Olympics.
It was the first defeat in Susaki's remarkable career. The 25-year-old, who burst onto the international scene at the 2014 World Cadet Championship and had won every bout since then, was considered the favorite in her weight category.
Vinesh claimed another major scalp in the next round by defeating former European champion Oksana Livach of Ukraine.
"We gave Vinesh everything she asked for. She also wanted to train abroad before the Olympics, which we arranged. We are happy with her performance," the WFI president remarked. "However, maintaining weight is the duty of the player, coach and nutritionist."