Wrestling National Camp postponed by Wrestling Federation of India

Last updated on February 14th, 2023 at 01:06 pm

The Wrestling National Camp for women to be scheduled to commence from the second week of August in Lucknow has been postponed, yet again. Also, the national camp for men that was to begin simultaneously in Sonepat too has been postponed.

The fear of contracting coronavirus infection is too large for the big names in wrestling sport in India and the associated personnel if they go to the Sports Authority of India Centre in Lucknow, which is the official site for the wrestling national camp for women. The problem of the fear is not the SAI site, but rather the adjoining building the Haj House, which has been converted to a Covid Care facility by the government of Uttar Pradesh. Due to many elite wrestlers like Vinesh Phogat, Pooja Dhanda and Sakshi Malik being averse to the idea of going to the national camp in Lucknow, the decision of postponing it was taken by the Wrestling Federation of India.

Vinod Tomar, assistant secretary at WFI said, “Some of the star wrestlers have raised objections and are against holding the national camp now. So, both the camps (men and women) have been postponed. The camps will most likely be held next month, any decision over the new dates will be taken after the Independence Day.”

Most probably the venues for the national camp for women would be changed. Tomer said, “The federation has received several requests from the women wrestlers regarding a change in venue, including that from Vinesh and Sakshi. We are actively considering their requests, but a decision hasn’t been taken yet.”

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Elite women players have raised their concerns. Vinesh said, “I have decided to give the centre a skip. The rising number of corona cases is a big concern for me. I have said no to the federation.”

The male wresters including Sushil Kumar, Ravi Dahiya and Deepak Punia are training currently at the Delhi’s iconic Chhatrasal Akhada. On the other hand Jitender Kinha and Bajrang Punia are training at Bangalore’s Inspire Institute of Sports Training since last month before the Tokyo Olympics.