Yogeshwar Dutt to miss World Wrestling Championships due to injury
In a big blow to India’s chances, 2012 Olympic bronze medalist Yogeshwar Dutt has been ruled out of the World Wrestling Championships, which were scheduled to be held at Las Vegas from September 7th to 12th, DNA reports.
The reason for Dutt’s omission from the 65kg category was that the doctors at the event didn't find him to be completely fit to compete in the tournament after he further aggravated his knee injury.
The doctors attending the wrestler have not only advised him to rest for a period of 2 months but have asked him to undergo another operation to his knee. DNA further reports that while Dutt was willing to participate in the tournament, the coaches and officials at the Wrestling Federation of India(WFI), including its President Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh opted to follow the advice given by the doctors.
According to a coach, who is part of the Indian contingent for the event, the decision was taken, keeping in mind the upcoming qualifying competitions in the coming months, where the 32-year-old can compete in order to gain a Rio 2016 Olympic berth.
This news could also probably spell trouble for the WFI as Amit Dhankar, another wrestler who takes part in the same category as Dutt, had approached the federation with letters, that spoke about Dutt’s injury before the team was picked for the Championships.
The knee has been a cause for trouble to Dutt for a very long time and it even forced him to withdraw from competing for close to a year in 2009. The news of his withdrawal comes 2 months after Sushil Kumar was also forced to miss the event due to a shoulder injury.
In the absence of the two wrestlers, India’s charge will now be led by Narsingh Yadav in the 74kg category and giving him company will be Amit Kumar in the 57kg category, Bajrang in the 61 kg event, Arun in the 70kg event, Sumit Kumar in the 125 kg event and Naresh in the 86 kg category.
The Women’s contingent will be led by Geeta Phogat and Babita and Vinesh.
The opening two days will see the Greco-Roman contest which isn’s completely India’s forte even as chief coach Mahavir is optimistic about the team's chances.