Wrestlers suffered huge PATAKHANI, to miss out 2023’s first ranking tournament- Zagreb Open

These days, a wrestling bout is going on between athletes and authorities. At the moment, wrestlers are ahead by a score of 4-1. The first success for the wrestlers was that the president was asked to step aside as WFI president. Secondly, the Sports Ministry suspended Vinod Tomar, who is very close to Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh; the third is the cancellation of the ongoing ranking tournament in Gonda; and the fourth is that the Sports Ministry, Indian Olympic Association, and Haryana Government have constituted an inquiry team into the whole matter. So far, the score is 4-0. The one important point the wrestlers seem to be missing is the participation of Indian wrestlers in the ranking tournament in Croatia. This is the first ranking tournament of the year. Neither the trials nor the visa process have started for the Zagreb Open wrestling ranking tournament in Croatia. Monday was the last date for visa applications. Our wrestlers, as well as prize money, will be greatly missed during the Olympic qualifying year. Here, the wrestlers are seen losing a point. In this regard, I have informed the Sports Ministry through a tweet, which has been supported by many wrestlers, including Sakshi Malik, a medallist at the Rio Olympics but it seems that the Sports Ministry hasn’t regarded the urgency of the situation. The ranking tournament assumes significance as it is an Olympic qualifying year. The total prize money of this ranking tournament is three lakh 90 thousand Swiss francs (about 3 crores 44 lakh INR). The gold winner will get 1500 Swiss francs (about one lakh, 32 thousand INR), the silver medallist will get 750 Swiss francs (about 66 thousand INR), and the bronze medallist will get 500 Swiss francs (about 44 thousand INR). Apart from this, three more ranking tournaments will be organised this year. Based on these four-ranking series, along with the world championship and continental (Asian) championship, United World Wrestling will choose the best wrestler in each category, and each winner will be given an amount of Rs one and a half lakh Swiss francs (one crore and 36 lakh INR). This is the big test for the Sports Ministry. The opportunity for the Indian wrestling team has been disregarded as there have been no further inquiry in the visa applications. Indian Sports minister Anurag Thakur was seen visiting Jabalpur on Tuesday.