Wrestling Federation of India to continue with policy of 'selection by quota' for Tokyo 2020 Olympics
Wrestling Federation of India won't hold trials for wrestlers ahead of the Tokyo 2020 Olympics and will continue to carry on with their age-old policy of ‘selection by quota’ as per officials. Olympic medalist Sushil Kumar missed out on Rio 2016 in favor of rival Narsingh Yadav due to this policy.
The Wrestling Federation of India is currently riding a high wave after they bagged a lucrative three-year sponsorship deal with leading Indian brand, Tata Motors. Brij Bhushan Singh, the chief of the WFI was vocal about his belief that some help from the corporate sector is sure to benefit the sport of wrestling in the coming years. But while the future looked to be pleasant for wrestlers, the WFI keep clinging on to the past and in no mood to change it.
WFI assistant Secretary Vinod Tomar recently revealed that the governing body will continue to stick with its tradition of sending wrestlers to international tournaments based on quota selection.
"We will still stick to the policy of sending quota winners to the Olympics rather than hosting trials," WFI Assistant Secretary Vinod Tomar said at an event to announce Tata Motors' association with WFI as their principal sponsors.
The first event in the build-up to the Tokyo 2020 Olympics that offered quota places to wrestlers will be the upcoming World Championships in Budapest in October later this year. If an Indian athlete was able to win a quota spot at Budapest, He/she will be considered as India's official entry into the respective weight category for the Olympics that will be held 19 months later.
When quizzed as to what would happen should a quota-winning wrestler lose their form in those 19 months, Tomar offered a less than acceptable, "Such a thing hasn't happened so far."
For the upcoming Asian Games in Jakarta, the WFI has chosen Bajrang Punia (men's 65kg weight class), Sushil Kumar (men's 74kg), Vinesh Phogat (women's 52 kg) and Sakshi Malik (women's 62kg) without any trials in their weight categories as the WFI declared that they are the best in the country in their respective categories. However, the WFI
But Tomar seemed adamant to not hold trials in four weight classes ahead of the Asian Games and stated that it was due to the 'stress that the athletes would have to undergo while competing in trials'. Tomar also went on to dismiss claims of nepotism in favor of Olympic medalist, Sushil Kumar.
"In categories where we know there is never a consistent winner, we need to have trials. But when WFI and coaches know that in one weight class a certain wrestler is going to win, then why should we unnecessarily hold trials? Winning medals at big events may be easy for them but trials can be stressful and can cause nervousness in a wrestler.
"We haven't given Sushil any benefit. We're looking at only our benefit, we want medals. It's not like we didn't see other wrestlers in Sushil's weight class. We gave Parveen Rana and Jitender Singh a chance at the Asian Championships but their performances were below-par. For the Asian Games, you'll need the strongest player available so that's how we came up with that decision," Tomar added.
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