Facing criticism from wrestling fraternity for accepting exemption from Asian Games trials Vinesh Phogat And Bajrang Punia Said on Monday that he was pained that young wrestlers dragged him to court but at the same time he was happy that junior wrestlers have started fighting for their rights. An ad hoc panel of the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) held trials in all 18 categories for the Hangzhou Asian Games but decided to give direct entries to Bajrang (65kg) and Vinesh (53kg), drawing flak from the wrestling fraternity.
Last Panghal started the case
Junior wrestlers Avinash Panghal and Sajit Kalkal approached the Delhi High Court seeking a stay on the exemption but their plea was rejected. Both Bajrang and Vinesh, who are training abroad at different places, responded to the allegations by coming live on social media. Vinesh said, ‘We are not against the trial. I can’t blame the last one. He is not wrong. She is fighting for her right and we are fighting for our right. He is too young, he does not understand. But we are not wrong.
Cleanliness of Vinesh Phogat
He said, ‘We fought against the system, against the powerful. We suffered blows on our heads, (then) no one came forward.’ Vinesh said, ‘She says she was cheated but did I cheat (during the Commonwealth Games trials)? If it was done, it was done by Brij Bhushan or got it done. My job was to wrestle and I did that. Vinesh, a two-time World Championship medallist, said, “If she felt cheated, she should have gone to the court at that very moment. pain reaches. But I am glad that the children have started speaking up, they are now gathering courage. It is positive for wrestling.
Bajrang Punia said this
Bajrang said that he wanted to speak on the issue only after the trial and the order of the Delhi High Court on the petition. He said, ‘It was said that there are three or four wrestlers who can defeat Vinesh but dear last, Vinesh has not lost yet and will never lose.’ Bajrang said, ‘Lastly you said that you became the first Indian to win the Under-20 Championship but Vinesh is the only female wrestler to win two medals in the World Championship. You have filed a case against us in the court?’
Vinesh is not afraid of trial
Vinesh said that he is not afraid of trial. He said, ‘We have given 20 years to wrestling. She says I haven’t practiced but I was at the protest site. We are still hungry. When we were at the peak of our career, we had put everything at stake. Vinesh said, ‘If he had worked as hard as he did in conducting this trial, Brij Bhushan would not have been out today and we all would have been fighting wrestling.’ He said, ‘We did not run away from the trial, we just wanted enough time for training. Take our trials, we have not run away from the country. Some win and some lose but we can’t be given even a month’s time to train?’
Bajrang will leave wrestling
Vinesh also said that she is not going to leave everything like this. He said, ‘I have been in this game for 20 years. Twice I have returned from the Olympics without a medal. My mother and I have dreamed of winning the Olympics. Why should I leave everything. Bajrang said that he would not issue repeated clarifications. He said, ‘The entire wrestling fraternity can sit together. You answer our questions and we will answer your questions. If we are proved wrong, we will quit wrestling. He also criticized London Olympic medalist Yogeshwar Dutt for favoring outgoing Wrestling Federation of India chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh.
