Vinesh Phogat’s name cleared for Budapest ranking series

Double World Championships bronze medallist Vinesh Phogat is likely to compete at next month's Polyak Imre and Varga Janos Memorial competition in Budapest, marking her return to competitive wrestling after 10 months. The 28-year-old's name was cleared in a meeting between the ad hoc committee which runs the sport and officials from government’s TOP scheme on Tuesday.

“Last week, Vinesh requested us to go to the Budapest event as she wants to gradually return to competitions. We were always in agreement and so we requested UWW (world body) to extend the deadline for sending entries by a week. The deadline was then pushed to June 20. We cleared her name today,” Bhupender Singh Bajwa, head of the ad hoc committee, said.

The names of her coach and physiotherapist have also been cleared for the July 13-16 event. “We’ve cleared the names of Sudesh (coach) and (physio) Ashwini Patil to accompany her. Those names were suggested by Vinesh,” Bajwa added.

The Budapest event is the fourth and last ranking series of the year. Vinesh, along with Tokyo Olympics bronze medallist Bajrang Punia and Rio Games bronze medallist Sakshi Malik, has led the wrestlers' protest against former federation (WFI) president Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh for sexual harassment.

The wrestlers started their sit-in protest in January before suspending it after a meeting with union sports minister Anurag Thakur. An oversight committee formed by the sports ministry probed the issue and submitted its report.

The wrestlers resumed their Jantar Mantar sit-in on April 23 as the Delhi Police did not register FIRs against Singh as demanded by them. Their 36-day sit-in ended on May 28 after the wrestlers were detained by the police as they tried to march to the new parliament on the day it was being inaugurated.

The three wrestlers missed the Zagreb (February), Alexandria (February) and Bishkek (June) ranking series as well as the Asian Championships in April.

Vinesh Phogat may be the lone Indian competitor in Budapest as other wrestlers are preparing for the Asian Games selection trials, dates for which are likely to be announced soon.

“There may not be any other wrestler from India as other wrestlers do not want to risk injuries or fatigue ahead of the Asian Games trials. Vinesh is completely out of practice and is probably looking to get into some competitive groove,” Bajwa said.

Lalit Kumar, coach of Tokyo Olympics silver medallist Ravi Dahiya (57kg) at Delhi's Chhatrasal Stadium, said he and Deepak Punia (86kg) won’t go. “Ravi had recently aggravated his right knee injury. He resumed mat training only yesterday, so we don't want to risk it. Deepak won't get much from competing in Budapest. We are preparing them for the Asian Games trials.”

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