Bollywood star Farhan Akhtar slams Sushil Kumar's nationals victory, sends Twitter into a frenzy

Sushil Kumar won his first Nationals Championships gold after nine years as he walked over to victory in Indore on Friday. He just fought two out of his five bouts as his opponents in the quarterfinal, semifinal and final refused to fight him and allowed him an unopposed path to the gold medal.

Praveen, Sachin Rathi and Parveen Rana all gave a walkover to the 34-year-old ahead of their matches in the last three stages. Before the match, they all touched Sushil's feet, after which the referee raised Sushil's arm, indicating the result.

This was Sushil's first competition after three years and since the controversy involving Narsingh Yadav in 2016 prior to the Rio Olympics, which saw neither grappler eventually take part at the Games.

The result saw mixed reactions on social media as some fans celebrated Sushil's win and hailed his comeback. While on the other hand, there were also a number of critical messages as people slammed the nature of his win, calling it a sham and against the spirit of sportsmanship.

One such reaction came from Bollywood star Farhan Akhtar, who expressed his disappointment at the manner of Sushil's victory. He tweeted that he held the wrestler in high regard but hoped that he did not accept the gold medal since it did not come under the correct circumstances.

The tweet resulted in a heated debate as fans supported the actor in his claim and were of the opinion that the wrestler should return the medal.

His twitter TL doesn't support your sincerely hope sir.... His celebrations of the teesri,chauthi,paanchvi jeets r nauseating ... ? #ThisIsNotSports ????
— Arun (@Armenon83) November 18, 2017

This is utter non sensical display of sportsman spirit by all d 4 wrestlers and even more esp by Sushil. Sushil bhai, walkover Karna tha toh kisi lampat ko apni jagah bhej dete. National championship ki aisi dhajjiyan na udaate. #disgusted to hear this. ???
— Anand Singh (@ananndsingh1208) November 18, 2017

well said @FarOutAkhtar sir he should not accept that medal . He could have to motivate the other wrestlers to play the match fairly. In the wrestling court all wrestlers should be treated equally. This is not done @WrestlerSushil sir.
— Ronak soni ® (@ronaksoni59) November 18, 2017

U slog ur life uptil nw and get a chance to test urslf agnst the best n u do dis.Dey wld hv lrnd more in dis 5min thn thy hv in der lifetime
— archit wahi (@ruuuuuuuuuuud) November 18, 2017

However, there were a number of fans who argued that what happened was justified and giving a walkover is a regular tradition in wrestling circles.

Some sports of India as so traditional that they r almost holy
surviving for centuries not on corporate sponsorships or TRPs but traditions and culture
Im happy today that the "kushti and akhada" culture has survived all the tests of time n will evolve
It's but India's Sumo Wrst
— D? S?MIT G??L?T (@jat_guerilla) November 18, 2017

If you don't know the ABC of a game; don't try to writing a book on it Mr. Akhtar.
— Heath Ledger (@KuldeepRed) November 18, 2017

with whom shld he compete when theres no one to compete with. Winning thru walkovers is common in sports
— Vikas kapoor (@_vikaskapoor) November 18, 2017

Whichever side one may be on in this debate, one thing is for certain that such a victory will hardly do anything to help Sushil, who is in need of match practice and such wins by walkovers will certainly not help to get his wrestling career back on track.