May the best of the two play for India - Olympic medalist wrestler Sushil Kumar on Tuesday said of the recent storm over pugilists Mary Kom and Nikhat Zareen after the latter demanded a "fair chance" to contest the Tokyo Olympic qualifiers.
Zareen, on October 17 had written to the sports ministry challenging the Boxing Federation of India decision to accommodate World champion Mary Kom by changing its rule of exempting gold and silver medallists from the World Cup.
Kom had won a bronze in the 51kg semi-final at the Women's World Boxing Championships in Ulan-Ude in Russia losing out to Busenaz Cakiroglu of Turkey on October 12 this year.
"In my opinion, Mary is a very disciplined player and that is why she is a legend. She will follow the instructions of the federation. In my opinion, whosoever can do better should play for India," Sushil Kumar told ANI.
Kumar termed Mary Kom a "class athlete" and said she will not shy away from giving trials.
"When it comes to Mary Kom, she is an inspiration for players. In my opinion, Mary has made the nation proud many times, each young player and each girl wants to become Mary Kom. What Zareen has written for trials is related to the federation, it is their call if federation feels that trial should happen then the trial will surely be held because the federation is an autonomous body," he said.
"Mary Kom is a class athlete, she knows for the young players there will be a system. I will give you my example, when I made my comeback, I started with giving trials. I gave trial for Railways and whenever I have been asked to give trial, I was always ready for it. So I feel Mary will do the same and this is a rule of the federation, which everyone has to follow," Kumar added.
Kumar said ultimately the Federation will take a call on the matter.
"Federation has said that there will be trial and if Federation feels that no trail is required for Mary Kom because she might get injured or Mary can focus on the preparation with a free-mind and get ready for the Olympics. It is for them to take a call on whether Mary will be successful or Zareen," he said.
Disclaimer: No Business Standard Journalist was involved in creation of this content
