Vinesh Phogat : System should undergo course correction
Wrestler Vinesh Phogat blames the system for the horrific defeat of the Indian team at the World Championships and insisted that the system must go through some improvement. The ace wrestler was whipped in the second bout at the World Championships and the whole team returned empty handed.
The Indian wrestling contingent, which returned empty-handed, was reportedly forced to train at a local club in Boulevard de Bercy borough, situated at the border of France and Germany since August 6, with hardly any facilities or even any foreign wrestlers to practice with. As a result, the Indian grapplers not just failed to make it to the podium but lost in the initials rounds of their respective weight categories. None of the wrestlers could manage to win two consecutive bouts in the main round.
Hurt by the humiliation, Vinesh Phogat tweeted a strong statement on Friday stating that it's time that the "system admits to its fault" for the disappointing performance of the team at the World Championship, from where they came back empty-handed. She notified that the wrestlers are geared up to accept accountability for the humiliation but also insisted that the system needs to do some introspection for the sake of the sport.
"Main
Thoughts..........⬇️⬇️⬇️⬇️⬇️ pic.twitter.com/6C6VCJlMO4
— Vinesh Phogat (@Phogat_Vinesh) September 2, 2017
However, she did not clarify whether the 'system' meant Wrestling Federation of India (WFI), or the Sports Ministry or the Sports Authority of India (SAI).
At the World Championships, Phogat triumphed in her first bout against junior world championships bronze medallist Oksana Livach of Ukraine. Moreover, in her second bout, she was leading with 4-2 in opposition to USA’s Victoria Anthony but then, unfortunately, got stuck in a headlock to pin her, which wrecked the World Championships for Phogat since Japan’s Susaki thrashed the USA wrestler in the quarter-final. As a result, the Indian was not pulled back in the repechage.
Phogat also made known the various issues that the national team is facing, including a dire need of a foreign coach, but, nothing has happened to it.
"The Indian wrestling team badly needs a foreign coach and a lot has been said and written over the past one year but there is no progress on that front. We desperately need foreign exposure trips but I guess for the next one year, we will have to train in India," wrote Phogat.
Expressing her discontentment, she told that even after a lot of pondering over post-Olympic misfortune, the system is still stagnant.
"There was a lot of talks post-Rio Olympics that our system needs to change. Did anything happen? You guys can tell me better," wrote the wrestler, who endured a career threatening knee injury during the 2016 Rio Olympic Games."
Warning the authorities, she said that the Paris disaster would keep repeating often if the system does not alter.
"If we are not ready to accept that there is a problem that we need to tackle, what happened in Paris last week would happen once again," she concluded.
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