Before climbing the podium in Paris, Olympic bronze medalist Aman Sehrawat had to deal with a house fire.
On July 22 last year, the then-rookie appeared for his first Asian Games selection trials. Like other wrestlers competing there, Aman had only four days to prepare for it. The official notification of the trial was issued on July 18.
Then, a month later, the teenager had another test to navigate – the World Championships. This time, he got only 11 days’ notice. Like the first trial, he reigned supreme here too in the 57 kg category, one of the most competitive categories in India.
Twenty days later, Aman, tired of the competition at home, reached Belgrade for the World Championship. And steamrolled in the round of 16 in 2 minutes 45 seconds.
Aman was not the only wrestler to endure the challenge of competing three times in about 50 days, making three weight cuts and managing a picking cycle three times.
“When you lose weight repeatedly, it affects your body because you cannot maintain or increase strength. So it affects performance,” says Aman’s coach Lalit Kumar. They can. However, he had to lose about 2 to 3 kg and about 4-5 kg each time for the actual championship.”
Chaos rules
For the past two years, as a result of the quagmire that has gripped Indian wrestling, the country’s athletes – rookies and Olympians, juniors and seniors – have faced unprecedented uncertainty, leading to a disarray of Olympic proportions.
Now a researcher has analyzed how it has affected the wrestlers. Focusing primarily on the conduct of selection trials for major continental and world events in 2023 and 2024, the researcher – who requested to remain anonymous – observed that in the lead-up to the Paris Olympics, confusion and chaos mainly ruled the selection.
The study noted that because wrestlers have less time to prepare for the trials, it seriously affects their preparation for the main competition, causing frequent weight loss in a short period of time and health risks even when they are expected to peak more than once during that period. period.
This sample:
The qualifying trials for the Hangzhou Asian Games were held on July 22 and 23. Its official directive came on July 18.
Trials were held on August 25 and 26 to select the team for the 2023 World Championships. The wrestlers were informed about this on August 14, 11 days before that.
Trials for Asian Olympic qualification were conducted on March 10 and 11, 2024. The notification came two days ago on March 8.
The gap between the selection test and the actual tournament was an average of two-three weeks, forcing the players to lose weight twice in a short period of time, in addition to other physical, psychological, and logistical challenges.
At least in the above cases – which took place under the supervision of the Indian Olympic Association-mandated ad-hoc committee and the Wrestling Federation of India – trials took place.
Former World Championship silver medalist Deepak Punia and Under-20 and U-23 World medalist Sujit Kalkal set up base camp in Russia’s Dagestan earlier this year to prepare for the final Olympic qualifiers. Out of the blue, the Sanjay Singh-led WFI said it was likely to hold a selection test to select a team for the event, forcing Punia to take the first flight back home. After landing in New Delhi, the wrestlers were told there would be no trials. Ultimately, neither made the cut for Paris 2024.
Increasing uncertainty
Opaque methods of selecting India’s teams for international wrestling tournaments have been the case for as long as one can remember, even leading to frequent court cases.
But uncertainty has only increased in the last two years. Since January 2023, when India’s top wrestlers began their protest against former WFI president Brijbhushan Sharan Singh, there has been an ongoing battle to take control of the sport’s administration.
Sujith’s father and coach Dayanand Kalkal says: “If we look at established wrestling nations like the US or Japan, the wrestlers there know early in the year when the trials will be held. It gives clarity to wrestlers, helps them prepare better and reduces overall stress. “
In fact, in countries like Japan and the United States, which finished first and third in the wrestling medal table at Paris 2024, wrestlers are notified of the annual calendar – including the dates of the selection trials – at the beginning of the year. Trials for the Olympics were held in April in categories with quotas already booked, giving athletes heading to Paris about three months to recover and prepare.
In India, amid the lack of clarity, wrestlers had to plead with the WFI weeks before the opening ceremony not to hold another selection trial – a request the WFI eventually accepted.
Throughout the Paris Olympic cycle, however, the sudden holding of the selection trials meant that some wrestlers had to miss the tournament due to injury, complicating their rehabilitation.
“For example, regarding the Asian Games trials last year,” says former Asian champion and World Championship silver medalist Anshu’s father Dharamveer Malik, “there was so much confusion over the date of the trials that we could not. Anshu’s rehabilitation plan Well done. When they finally announced the date, we were given only four days to prepare for such a big event.”
Recovering from a knee injury, Anshu lacked time to get fit for the trials and lost in the first round. The same was the case with Tokyo Olympics silver medalist Ravi Dahiya, who also had to come out of the competition after nursing an injury for a long time.
Anshu and Ravi were among half a dozen elite wrestlers who spent as much time in rehab — as in Ravi’s case — as they did on the wrestling mat in the last Olympic cycle.
Anshu’s knees and neck were repeatedly injured. Another young wrestler, Sonam Malik, reported six injuries between April 2023 and March 2024. World Championship medalist Antim Panghal injured his neck in June 2023 and his finger four months later. Ravi underwent two knee surgeries while Aman suffered a hamstring injury in April.
Under-23 world champions Ritika Hooda, Bajrang Punia, Vinesh Phogat and Deepak Punia have also been injured at various points in the last two years.
“The situation has not been good in the last two years,” says Dayanand, whose ward Sujith recently returned from training in Japan. “We hope that things will be settled in the coming weeks so that preparations for the upcoming competitions will not be compromised.”
Why should you buy our membership?
You want to be the smartest in the room.
You want access to our award-winning journalism.
You don’t want to be confused and misinformed.
Choose your subscription package