Geetu,Ritu, Sangeeta Phogat permitted to enter wrestling camp while Babita remains barred

Geeta, Babita, Sangeeta and Ritu were all axed by the Wrestling Federation of India from the national camp in Lucknow after they were found guilty of skipping the camp apart from their tantrums and indiscipline. However, they have now been allowed and would now be taking part in the qualifiers for the Asian Games 2018 that would be held in Jakarta and Palembang in August.

The federation, however, continued to bar Babita Kumari Phogat along with five other defaulters – four women wrestlers and one male wrestler, from training at the national camps at the Sports Authority of India’s centers in Lucknow and Sonepat. All of these wrestlers were initially handed suspensions as they failed to attend their respective camps on time.

However, a shortage of sparring partners made the federation struggle to ensure an adequate amount of matches for the other wrestlers. The WFI has now allowed a lucky few after a disciplinary hearing on Wednesday, which was preceded by written explanations submitted by the wrestlers for their absence from training, as stated by a report in TOI.

CWG silver-medalist Babita Phogat had failed to come up with a suitable clarification for missing the women’s camp, which led to her permanent dismissal from attending the national camp. Earlier, Babita had responded to being thrown out of the national camp by saying that she was recovering from injuries to both her knees.

She had spoken about going through a rehabilitation therapy at JSW Sports’ facilities in Bangalore. However, the federation remained firm in their decision to bar Babita form the selection trials for what could have been her second Asian Games. India had won five medals- one gold, one silver and three bronze, in the 2014 Asian Games.

Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, the president of the WFI, confirmed that out of the 15 wrestlers, who had initially issued suspension notices, six will be continually barred from the Lucknow camp, men’s freestyle or the Greco-Roman camp at SAI, Sonepat. Including Babita (53 kg), Pooja Tomar and Manju (62kg), Anju(65kg), Kamini(72kg) and men’s freestyle wrestler Shravan (61kg) are among the unlucky few.