Wrestler Antim Panghal has asked for a fair selection trial after WFI ad-hoc panel announced that Olympic medallist Bajrang Punia and World Championship medallist Vinesh Phogat will get direct entries into the Asian Games. Antim is upset with the decision as she participated in the same category as Vinesh.
Antim has performed well in the same category as Vinesh in recent times. She had become India’s first U20 World Champion last year and also won a silver medal at the senior Asian Championship this year.
She had also threatened to move to court and is planning to file a writ petition, challenging the ad-hoc panel’s decision.
In a conversation with Mirror Now, Antim expressed his disappointment on the decision and said, “I have no problem with the trials but won’t let anyone get the direct entry, it’s not fair.”
Antim said that she is having a discussion with her father about moving to court.
However, the 19-year-old also admitted that she is going to take part in the trials.
Meanwhile, according to the WFI guidelines, the selection trials in all weight categories are mandatory, however, the Selection Committee will have the discretion to select the iconic players like medallists of Olympic/World Championship without trials provided recommendation by Chief Coach/Foreign Expert.
Both Bajrang and Vinesh fit in that criteria but in this case men’s free-style national coach Jagmander Singh and women’s national coach Virender Dahiya were kept in the dark.
Dahiya said,” We don’t know in what shape Bajrang and Vinesh are in. They have not competed in the last eight months. You get to know about speed, strength, weight, only during the competitions. And they have not competed after CWG and World Championship last year, so we do not know how good they are at this moment.”
“I am not even aware that such a decision has been taken. The ad-hoc panel had stopped calling us for meetings. We have not made any such recommendation, we favoured trials in all categories,” Jagmander told PTI.
“And in both 53kg and 65kg categories, there are solid youngsters who can compete well. Their strength is good. The ad-hoc panel has overruled us in making this decision,” he alleged.
(With Agency Inputs)
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