Left out of Olympics squad, wrestler Sushil Kumar writes to PM Modi, may approach court

India is sending its largest wrestling contingent to Rio Olympics but one champion wrestler is not on the list

Sushil Kumar
Sushil Kumar
BS Web TeamANI New Delhi
Last Updated : May 13 2016 | 4:04 PM IST
Double Olympic medallist and ace Indian wrestler, Sushil Kumar has written a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi asking for his help to secure a final trial before the Indian contingent leaves for Rio Olympics, reports ABP News.

The letter from Sushil Kumar, who hopes to win his third Olympic medal at Rio, comes in the wake of a stalemate around India's representation in the 74-kg men's wrestling category.The Wrestling Federation has picked Narsingh Yadav ahead of Sushil in the first list.

Narsingh secured the country's first Olympic quota in wrestling after winning bronze medal at the World Championships last year. However, Sushil, who switched from 66kg to 74kg in 2014, wants trials to determine who should go to Rio Games.

News agency ANI has quoted the 32-year-old as saying: "Whoever is better and stronger of us (Sushil and Narsingh Yadav) must be sent for Rio. I am ready for trials. Then only we can determine who is stronger. Our government and federation have spent money on me for the past two years so that I can do something for the country."

Meanwhile, Hindustan Times has reported on Friday that the ace wrestler has plans to take his Olympic ticket hunt all the way to the courts after Wrestling Federation of India (WFI), made it clear that it is not in favour of his demand for a selection trial.

The newspaper reports that the ace wrestler will soon file a motion in the Delhi High Court. It quotes a source as saying: “It is one of the options but we hope the matter is resolved before this.”

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On Thursday, the Double Olympic medalist insisted that he is not disheartened despite not featuring in the first list of wrestlers sent to the Indian Olympic Association for the forthcoming Rio Olympics.

ANI has quoted the ace wrestler as saying: "I am not at all sad. My work is to train hard and provide good results which I am doing efficiently”.  The ace wrestler had clinched bronze medal at the 2008 Beijing Olympics and silver medal at the London Games four year later.

So far, seven Indian grapplers have secured their berths for Rio Games, the most for India in the sport at any Olympics.

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First Published: May 13 2016 | 3:15 PM IST

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