Asian Games 2022: Antim Panghal questions Vinesh Phogat’s exemption from selection trials

Panghal, who is a silver medallist from the senior Asian Championship and competes in the same weight category as Vinesh, also recalled a similar incident from the Commonwealth Games trials last year.

Antim Panghal, who won the gold medal in the women’s 53 kg wrestling event at the 36th National Games. | Photo Credit: VIJAY SONEJI

Reigning U20 World Champion Antim Panghal raised questions on the Asian Games selection trial exemption for Vinesh Phogat on Wednesday and wanted to find out the reason behind the same.

Vinesh (53kg) and Bajrang Punia (65kg) were exempted from the selection trials for the 2022 Asian Games by the Indian Olympic Association’s ad hoc committee on Tuesday, while other wrestlers will have to book their places in the Indian squad through selection trials on July 22 and 23.

Panghal, who is a silver medallist from the senior Asian Championship and competes in the same weight category as Vinesh, recalled a similar incident from the Commonwealth Games trials last year.

“Even in the Commonwealth Games trial, I had a 3-3 bout with her. Then, too, I was cheated. I said, ‘koi nahin (it’s okay), I will try to qualify for the Olympics by going to the (Hangzhou) Asian Games’. But now they are saying they will send Vinesh. This is not done,” said Panghal in a video circulated on social media.

READ | Antim, the last girl child of her family, becomes India’s first female wrestler to win world U20 gold 

Questioning Vinesh’s performance over the last year, the 19-year-old wrestler said, “Last year, I won gold in the Junior World Championships and became the first woman wrestler from India to do so. In the 2023 Asian Championships, I won silver. Vinesh, on the other hand, has no achievements to show and hasn’t practised as well in the last year; she was also injured.”

Currently training in Budapest, Vinesh got direct entry for the Asian Games by virtue of being a medal winner at the World Championship last year. 

“They are also saying that the one who goes for the Asian Games will also go for the World Championships. And the one who wins a medal at Worlds will go to the Olympics (in Paris). We have also been training hard for years. So, what about us? Should I quit wrestling?”

Panghal also raised doubts over Sakshi Malik’s omission, as the latter is an Olympic medallist. “Sakshi Malik has also won an Olympic medal; she too is not being sent. What is so special about Vinesh that she is being sent? Just organise trials. I am not saying that I will defeat Vinesh. There are many female wrestlers out there who can do so.”