Vinesh puts foot down

Vinayak Padmadeo

New Delhi, March 11

There was drama and despair in Patiala. Vinesh Phogat won the final of the 50kg category trials to win a right to represent India at the Asia Olympics Qualifiers in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, next month. She beat Shivani 11-6 in the final. However, more than her skills that were evident, Vinesh’s insistence on competing in two weight categories — 50kg and 53kg — left her opponents feeling cheated.

All panel members allowed Vinesh to compete in two categories: Bajwa

New Delhi: The ad hoc committee chairman, Bhupender Singh Bajwa, categorically stated that all three members on the IOA-constituted panel agreed to Vinesh Phogat’s request to compete in the 50kg and 53kg categories at the national trials despite the UWW rules stating that a competitor can take part in just one category. “We responded to Vinesh’s request to compete in both categories, the entire committee agreed to accommodate her request and allowed her to participate in both,” Bajwa said.

Bajwa said that there will a final trial in May. “The runners-up will participate in the Asia Championships, with the winner of that event competing in the trial (against the Olympics quota winner) in late May before proceeding to the Olympics,” he said. PTI

In bizarre scenes, the 50kg trials did not start in the morning after Vinesh insisted on a written guarantee that she be allowed to take part in the 53kg trials before the Olympics. Moreover, the draw list in both the weight categories was also not shared.

This marks a small victory for me. I was aiming to compete in the 53kg category, (but) considering Antim Panghal has already secured a quota and due to unclear guidelines, I participated in the 50kg category as well. — Vinesh Phogat

Trial winners

Vinesh Phogat (50kg), Anju (53kg), Tamanna (55kg), Anshu Malik (57kg), Pushpa Yadav (59kg), Mansi (62kg), Antim (65kg), Nisha (68kg), Harshita (72kg), Reetika (76kg)

The ad hoc panel comprising Bhupinder Singh Bajwa, MM Somaya and Manjusha Panwar delayed the trials in the 50kg division to try and make her understand. However, she did not budge and the bouts could only begin around 1:30pm when her competitors started to complain about the delay and ensuing confusion.

“This is not the way to conduct trials. It was very apparent that the officials were hell-bent on favouring her. We gave our weights at 7am and were made to wait as Vinesh wanted to fight in two categories,” said a wrestler who competed in the 50kg class.

“We complained but nothing happened. She got a bye in the first round — how did they arrive at that decision? They fixed my bout against Ankush so that there is one less competitor. They tried to fix Shivani’s bout in the semifinal too. This is cheating,” she added.

Shivani’s coach Vikram Kumar, who runs the Guru Premchand Academy in Delhi, pointed fingers at the ad hoc panel and the referees for making a mockery of the trials. “Bajwa and the referees are acting on the behest of Vinesh and Bajrang (Punia). They have played with the future of many girls today. I am still trying to find out as to how she was allowed to take part in two weight classes. My girls were told that the ad hoc panel has the discretion to allow it. It looks as if the referees work only for Haryana and the rest of India is nothing,” Kumar told The Tribune.

“They tried to make Shivani lose her semifinal bout against Ankush. Shivani had her pinned on the mat but the judge did not permit the referee to end the contest. She won but she was exhausted while Vinesh was given ample time to recover. Vinesh was allowed to throw in challenges to allow her to recover in the bouts as well. I cannot believe they allowed this farce to happen in plain view,” he added.

Interestingly, the ad hoc panel in their circular had specifically mentioned that the trials will be held as per the United World Wrestling (UWW) rules. While allowing Vinesh to take part in two weight categories they have kept the rules at bay. Article 7 clearly states that “each contestant deemed to be taking part of his/her own free will, and responsible for himself/herself, shall be allowed to compete in only one weight category: the one corresponding to his weight at the time of the official weigh-in. For categories in the senior age group, competitors may opt for the next higher category than their body weight, except for the heavy weight category…”

‘Help’ in 53kg

While Vinesh was head and shoulders above everyone else in the 50kg category, she was helped by her fellow competitors to stay in contention in the 53kg class. After forfeiting her bout against Nancy, Vinesh then took it easy against Anju to lose 0-10. In the third-place bout, it was Nancy who forfeited in Vinesh’s favour.

“All this was done to ensure that she stays in contention for a future trial ahead of the Olympics should the body hold a trial in the 53kg weight class,” a coach said on the condition of anonymity.