Sushil Kumar to miss Asian Wrestling Championship

03/19/2019

Sushil Kumar has voluntarily given a miss to the Asian Wrestling Championship in Xi’an, China, scheduled between April 23 and 28. The WFI had conducted the trials for the same on March 17, which the ace wrestler failed to attend with Amit Kumar Dhankar all set to replace him in the 74kg category.

Amit, who has been training at the Haryana Police Academy's training centre in Madhuban, has formerly trained alongside with Sushil in the same academy. With the two-time Olympic medallist not turning up for the trials in Sonepat for the annual event South Asian games gold medallist Amit Kumar Dhankar got the opportunity.

An official of the WFI (Wrestling Federation of India) was also quoted saying, "Sushil had told us that he would come for the trials, but he didn't arrive. We did wait for him for a long time. What else can we do? We can't force anyone to participate. It is a good opportunity for Amit Dhankar though; he is a tough competitor and will be a big challenge for Sushil in the future,” reported TOI.

There was no communication from the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna awardee, however, his coach Satpal Singh, former Asian games gold medallist responded to TOI.

"He (Sushil) isn't injured or unwell as is being speculated. He is practising on his own and I can assure that he's getting some quality practice. At this stage of his career, Sushil has to pick and choose tournaments so that he can realise his larger goal - which is to win another Olympic medal in 2020. He is focusing on the World Wrestling Championships where if he does well he can earn a quota spot for the Olympics. His next international tournament is in Cairo later next month. “

Sushil Kumar would next be seen in action in the Arab Club tournament in Cairo, Egypt, scheduled between April 24 and 27.