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Vinesh Phogat shares letter to sports ministry amid controversy on trials for Asian Games, World Championships

The ad-hoc panel of the IOA had earlier exempted the protesting wrestlers from taking part in the trials, which was heavily criticised by coaches and parents of the other wrestlers including Yogeshwar Dutt.

Published : Jun 25, 2023 18:46 IST , NEW DELHI - 3 MINS READ

Vinesh Phogat shared the letter requesting more time to prepare for Asian Games and World Championship trials which was signed all six wrestlers participating in the protests against Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh.
Vinesh Phogat shared the letter requesting more time to prepare for Asian Games and World Championship trials which was signed all six wrestlers participating in the protests against Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh. | Photo Credit: REUTERS
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Vinesh Phogat shared the letter requesting more time to prepare for Asian Games and World Championship trials which was signed all six wrestlers participating in the protests against Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh. | Photo Credit: REUTERS

Wrestler Vinesh Phogat on Sunday made public a letter that some of the protesting wrestlers had written to the sports ministry, requesting the extension of the dates for trials for the Asian Games as well as the World Championships later this year.

Vinesh shared a picture of the letter — which mentions no date — on social media on Sunday which mentions six wrestlers requesting for some extra time for training ahead of the trials.

The six protesting wrestlers were handed one-bout trials by the IOA ad-hoc panel, a move that was criticised by several established and upcoming wrestlers as they demanded fair trials for everyone.

READ | Never asked Bajrang to concede any match against me: Yogeshwar Dutt

Vinesh, though, did not say if they are willing to appear in full trials, like all other wrestlers.

“It is requested to you that due to their participation in the wrestlers’ protest, the below mentioned wrestlers need some additional time to prepare for the trials for the Asian Games and the World Championships,” the undated letter, addressed to Sports Minister Anurag Thakur, read.

The request was made for protesting wrestlers Bajrang Punia (65kg), Sakshi Malik (62kg), her husband Satyawart Kadian (97kg), Sangeeta Phogat (57kg), Jitender Kumar (86kg) and Vinesh (53kg) herself.

“Hence it is a request to you that trials must be held for these wrestlers after August 10, 2023,” the letter, signed by all six wrestlers mentioned, added.

Along with sharing the letter, Vinesh wrote on her Twitter page, “The protesting wrestlers had only requested to postpone the date of the trials, since due to our participation in the protests for the last six months, we did not get enough time for practice.

“We understand that this is a serious matter, which is why we are sharing this letter with you. The enemy is trying to break the unity among the wrestlers, we cannot let them have success,” Vinesh added.

It has been learnt that coaches Gian Singh and Ashok Garg, who were added to the IOA ad-hoc panel, had sought exemption for six wrestlers.

The Indian Olympic Association (IOA) is supposed to give ‘entries by name’ to the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) of all the Indian squads by July 15.

To accommodate the wrestlers’ request for August 10 trials, it also approached OCA for deadline extension. The OCA is yet to respond to the request.

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