Waiting game continues for Indian wrestlers
CHENNAI: The drama has once again shifted to the sports minister's doorstep. Some four months ago, Indian wrestlers were forced to stay put at sports minister Mansukh Mandaviya's residence in New Delhi to ensure they got to compete at the 2024 World Championships scheduled in Tirana, Albania from October 28 to 31.
In a repeat of what they did last year, wrestlers are once again seeking an appointment with Mandaviya to make sure they compete at the second Ranking Series scheduled from February 26 to March 2 in the same city. They did try to meet the minister on Saturday but to no avail as he was out of town.
The participation holds more importance as they had already missed the first Ranking Series held in Zagreb, Croatia earlier this month.
"We did the same in October last year and are now being forced to do it again. How long do we have to suffer?" rued wrestler Manisha, who is selected in the 65kg weight category for the Tirana event.
Manisha and a few other grapplers spent more than three hours at Mandaviya's residence on Saturday only to be told that the minister has left for Mumbai for an event. "We have been told that he will be back by Tuesday so we will again visit his residence as we are running out of time.
We have already missed the first Ranking Series held from February 5 to 9. If we miss the upcoming series, it will be a big loss as we will not get seedings for World Championships, thus depriving us of a favourable draw. It will also hurt our medal prospects at the Asian Championships scheduled next month," added Manisha.
Ever since the new executive committee of the Wrestling Federation of India, with president Sanjay Kumar Singh at the helm took charge in December 2023, the WFI has been at loggerheads with the sports ministry.
The ministry even suspended the body for a few days after the election and a case in this regard is still pending in the court. Notwithstanding the suspension, the WFI has been recognised by the United World Wrestling (UWW) making it the sole authority from the country to send entries for the international tournaments.
"We are not concerned with the issues between the sports ministry and WFI. We want to compete and cannot keep missing these important events," Sunil Kumar, 87kg Greco-Roman wrestler, told this daily.
A few wrestlers seem to have lost hope and one among them is Shivani Pawar, who recently clinched 50kg gold at the 2025 National Games in Uttarakhand.
"Star wrestlers were claiming in the past they were fighting for the youngsters. Where are they now? This has become a norm for us. We wasted hours to meet the minister on Saturday but to no avail. After the National Games, recovery was our first goal but we queued up at the minister's residence. Before any international event, we should be focussed on training but here we are not even sure of our participation," she lamented.
The WFI chief, who had met the minister in October last year, has also sought time to have a meeting again. "I spoke to the minister's PA and sought time.
The PA told me that he will give me an update on Monday. If need arises, I will also join wrestlers as I did last time to make sure they get permission to compete," said Sanjay Singh.
Amid all this chaos, all is not lost yet. The minister's timely intervention can still enable wrestlers to compete in Tirana. For now, the wrestlers can only hope it happens sooner than later.
Ranking series, four in a non-Olympic year and two in an Olympic year, provide points to each athlete in order to establish the World Ranking at the end of the year.
At the end of the year, the ranking determines the best Athletes of the year in each weight category. On the basis of the ranking, a wrestler also gets seedings for the World Championships, which eventually help them in getting a favourable draw.
