Sujeet Kalkal and Antim Panghal, junior wrestlers, oppose trial exemptions for Bajrang and Vinesh

Fast-rising wrestlers from the nation passionately disagreed with the IOA ad-hoc panel’s controversial choice to exclude top competitors Vinesh Phogat and Bajrang Punia from the Asian Games trials, and they appealed the decision in the Delhi High Court in addition to taking to the streets in Hisar, Haryana, to voice their displeasure.

Antim Panghal, the current U20 World Champion, and Sujeet Kalkal, the U23 Asian Champion, both blasted the ad-hoc committee’s decision as unfair and unjust, and said that if they were put up against Bajrang and Vinesh in the trials, they would defeat them.

Tuesday saw the criteria released by the commission, which is chaired by Bhupender Singh Bajwa. They said that trials would be conducted in all categories but that they have already chosen wrestlers for the men’s freestyle 65kg and women’s 53kg weight classes.

Sujeet fights in Bajrang’s division, whilst Antim does so in the 53 kg division, where she has lost tight matches against famed Vinesh in the past.

The Hisar-born Panghal, 19, questioned Vinesh’s selection, noting that she had just recently started practicing.

Panghal, a senior Asian Championship silver medalist, questioned the requirements for exemption through video.

“Despite not having trained in the previous year, Vineesh Phogat was given a straight entrance to the Asian Games. In the last year, she hasn’t accomplished anything, Panghal claimed in the video.

“Last year, I became the first female wrestler from India to win a gold medal at the Junior World Championships. I took home a silver medal from the 2023 Asian Championships, but Vinesh hasn’t accomplished anything in the last year. She added that she had also been hurt.

“Although Sakshi Malik holds an Olympic gold as well, she is not being sent. What makes Vinesh so unique that she is being sent? Just set up trials. I don’t claim to be the only one capable of defeating Vinesh. She may be defeated by a number of different females, according to Panghal.

Kalkal said that although Bajrang had lost to the same wrestler by technical superiority at the World Championships the previous year, he had just defeated American John Michael Diakomihalis by a commanding 8-2 score.

“Bajrang received entrance for the World Championships (in 2022) to participate without trials. I am 8-2 in the World Ranking series against the American wrestler (Diakomihalis) who Bajrang fell to by a score of 0-10. That July 2022 Ranking Series competition in Tunis was won by Sujeet.

I don’t claim to be the only one who can defeat Bajrang. Bajrang can be defeated by at least five or six wrestlers in our weight class. Because of this, it is important that all wrestlers get equal chance and a fair trial.

“It is also my dream to win the Olympic gold medal, but how will we realize our goals if these wrestlers (like Bajrang and Vinesh) keep receiving direct entries?” he said.

Panghal was one of the young wrestlers that fought with Bajrang and Vinesh against the departing WFI president in January of this year, during the top athletes’ sit-in.

Panghal now claims that the same wrestlers defrauded her by denying her the chance to qualify for the Asian Games.

At Chhotu Ram Chowk in Hisar, Panghal, relatives of Vishal Kaliraman, a competitor in Bajrang’s category, gathered and demanded that trials be held in all weight categories.

Along with older folks from adjacent villages, wrestlers from the Baba Laldas Akhada in Hisar and the renowned Chhatrasal Stadium in New Delhi also participated in the demonstration.

“We are here to express our opposition to this IOA ad hoc panel judgment. The decision as to whether or not we must return tomorrow will be made later this evening, said Panghal’s father, Ram Niwas, to PTI.

The two wrestlers’ united appeal was brought up before Chief Justice Satish Chandra Sharma, who scheduled the case for Thursday.

The suit, filed by attorneys Hrishikesh Baruah and Akshay Kumar, asked the cancellation of the IOA ad-hoc committee’s order on the two categories (men’s freestyle 65 kg and women’s 53 kg) as well as the revocation of the exemptions given to Bajrang and Vinesh.

The petition urged that the trials be conducted fairly, without providing any wrestlers an exemption, and that the whole event be recorded on camera.

The father of Sujeet Kalkal, Dayanand Kalkal, told PTI: “These wrestlers had said during their protest at Jantar Mantar that their struggle is for justice and for the sake of junior wrestlers. Now, they want to sideline the junior wrestlers, thus we had to go court against this decision.

“Since the start of their protest, their goal has been to avoid trials; for this reason, we have never sided with them. People could not perceive their intentions because they were blind.

“No one will object if these well-known wrestlers defeat the up-and-coming competitors and leave. The fact that our kids get to compete against such outstanding athletes is something to be proud of. A fair trial must take place, he continued.

Singh, who is now under criticism, said that the exemption decision is “unfortunate” and would harm wrestling in India. He said that WFI had stopped granting wrestlers waivers since they saw it was harming the juniors.

“Since the ad hoc panel made this judgment, I am feeling fairly distressed. It will be detrimental to wrestling in this nation. To raise this sport, many individuals have put forth a lot of effort. All of the participants—athletes, parents, and sports fans—have put in a lot of effort, according to Singh.

“Today, wrestling is one of the sports where winning an Olympic medal is seen to be a given. And it is sad that these wrestlers have decided to compete in a tournament like the Asian Games without first passing a trial. When it was argued that the WFI had excused Vinesh, Bajrang, and others from trials for the 2018 Asian Games and that the same wrestlers had received straight semifinal spots during the 2022 CWG trials, he acknowledged that it was an error.

“Despite giving these wrestlers straight semifinal places, we did not immediately send them (to the Commonwealth Games). Later, we realized that perhaps this is not right, which is why we talked about it in our Executive Committee, listened to the coaches’ recommendations, researched international regulations, and passed new rules in our General Body Meeting that such exemptions will never be granted to any wrestler in any circumstance. “This regulation was not imposed by me alone. After much deliberation, a choice was made. Yogeshwar Dutt, an Olympic medalist from London, too criticized Bajwa’s panel harshly.

“In the previous 6-7 months, there has been nothing in wrestling to rejoice and celebrate. We don’t want wrestlers to storm the streets once again since wrestling has already received a lot of bad press, Dutt said on social media. I’d want to call on others, like Ravi Dahiya and Deepak Punia, to speak out in protest of this unjust ruling. According to information obtained, Olympic silver medalist Ravi Dahiya of Tokyo has previously complained to the IOA about being left off the exemption list despite fulfilling the requirements.