Packed halls, grapplers drenched in sweat, pumped-up coaches and the acquainted scent of pain-relieving gels. On the face of it, the selection trials at Sports Authority of India’s Sonepat Centre for the upcoming under-15 and under-20 Asian Wrestling Championships had been like one other throughout the present earlier. But there was one stark distinction: the absence of Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) chief and BJP MP Brij Bhushan Singh.
While some voices had been nonetheless supporting him, wrestlers and coaches spoke in hushed tones about feeling “a lot freer”, collaborating with out Brij Bhushan watching over them. “We are more pumped up and can participate without any pressure. Earlier the president would constantly hurl instructions over the mic and disrupt our rhythm. We just feel calmer with him not being around,” acknowledged a wrestler, requesting anonymity.
For over a decade, Brij Bhushan has been a relentless presence at these events – sitting on a sofa, a mic in his hand, giving instructions and micro-managing the event. However, after he was accused of sexually harassing women wrestlers, an ad-hoc committee formed by the Indian Olympic Association has taken over the selection course of.
And given that committee has opened its doorways for any athlete who has carried out state-level for the trials, there was a big spike throughout the participation numbers. For these trials alone, the committee obtained 2400 entries. On Day 1, there have been 550 registrations, in response to the organisers.
With such massive numbers collaborating throughout the trials, every the wrestling halls on the SAI centre had been packed to the brim. The warmup mat on the Yogeshwar Dutt and Sushil Kumar hall resembled a ration queue as athletes waited for his or her flip.
Most wrestlers appeared a bit reluctant to speak on the continued protest and the allegations of sexual harassment levelled at Brij Bhushan nonetheless there was a method of assist that the trials had been being carried out beneath the ad-hoc committee.
“We wanted to give all the promising wrestlers a chance to participate. Since we have made it open, we are seeing new talent emerge. No one can complain now that there was favouritism in selections because we don’t know the athletes. Earlier we had a little fear if we could pull off the trials but we did it 10 days ago for another event. This time we are confident,” ad-hoc committee member Bhupender Singh Bajwa suggested The Indian Express.
A 17-year-old wrestler, who trains at an academy in Gurgaon, was among the many many few who wanted to share her views on the continued protests. “My mother spoke to me about it and we support the wrestlers. We are with them and whatever happened was extremely wrong,” the wrestler acknowledged.