Junior Wrestlers Demonstrate and Yell Obscenities At Sakshi, Bajrang, And Vinesh
Numerous young wrestlers urged that juniors resume training and competitions, accusing the senior trio for taking a year off. The continuing wrestling controversy took a new turn on Wednesday when hundreds of teenage wrestlers staged a sit-in protest, asking that age-group competitors resume training and tournaments. They blamed elders Bajrang Punia, Sakshi Malik, and Vinesh Phogat for the present standstill.
The juniors displayed posters condemning Bajrang, Sakshi, and Vinesh’s complaints for the lack of wrestling activity during the last year. The young wrestlers from Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, and Haryana arrived, and that’s when the protest started at around eleven in the morning. The wrestlers remained silent about who had requested their gathering.
They held posters and yelled insults at Punia, Phogat, and Malik. Reetika Hooda, the U-23 world champion, and Sunil Kumar, the Greco-Roman wrestler who won the bronze medal at the Hangzhou Asian Games, were among the demonstrators. Following the demonstration in the previous year, there was no junior national camp or championship in 2023.
The wrestlers insisted that WFI’s 10-day punishment be lifted by the sports ministry. The office-bearers of WFI have also expressed doubts about the suspension and the way the sport is handled by an ad hoc committee, threatening to take the matter to court.
The future of the juvenile wrestlers is in jeopardy, according to Hooda, who trains at the Chhotu Ram Academy in Rohtak, where Rio Olympics bronze champion Sakshi received her training. “Last year, there was no wrestling activity. The chance to train is essential for young people who wish to participate, she stated. The demonstrators demanded that Bajrang and Vinesh be held accountable for “disrespecting national awards by leaving them on the street” in a memo addressed to the sports ministry.
