As the Indian wrestling team boarded the flight for Budapest on October 8, one of their freestyle wrestlers was missing. The team was leaving for the preparatory camp in Hungary before the world championships, which were scheduled to start on October 20. However, Mausam Khatri decided to skip the camp and report in Budapest just two days before the competition.
There is no reason given for the delay by either the Khatri himself or the Wrestling Federation of India. However, the WFI said it was “unacceptable” that he lost 2-12 in the first round of the 97 kg weight category at the Worlds to Jose Robertti of Venezuela, a country which can hardly boast about their wrestlers.
“Mausam had some personal reason to not go early, which I cannot reveal now,” WFI assistant secretary Vinod Tomar said. “But he lost to an unknown wrestler and even we are upset with that. We will ask for reasons from him.”
While both Khatri and WFI are citing Khatri’s “personal reason” as an excuse, the heavyweight wrestler was in Jammu on October 14, wrestling at a dangal against Ajay Baran of Haryana, while his India teammates trained 3,500 miles away in Budapest.
Dismal show
Khatri was not the only embarrassment for India. With a squad compromising 30 wrestlers, 10 each in men’s freestyle, women’s freestyle and Greco-Roman style, India managed to win only two medals, none of them gold.
Despite having India’s top wrestlers in their respective categories, 15 out of the 30 Indians failed to win their opening bout at the competition. The worst performers were the Greco Roman wrestlers, with only two out of the 10 winning their first bouts. All 10 eventually finished outside the top-10 in their respective weight categories.
“We will review this performance,” Tomar said. “Despite the two medals, many wrestlers lost in the first round, which is unacceptable. During the upcoming Nationals, will have the performance reviewed and act on it.”
The national championships are still a month away, to be conducted in Nandini Nagar, Gonda, from Novermber 30 to December 2. By that time, India would have competed at the U23 World Championships as well.
On the mat, Indian wrestlers were nowhere close to their rivals with superior skill sets and fitness. For example, Rio Olympic bronze medallist Sakshi Malik could have reached her first ever medal bout at the senior Worlds had she not adapted a passive style of wrestling. She conceded a point in the final second of her repechage bout and lost 2-3.
Another Indian, Seema Bisla, a national champion in the 53 kg weight category, lost her only bout and finished 21st out of 21 wrestlers in the 55 kg category. In the 72 kg category, Rajni was pinned inside a minute by a Martina Kuenz from Austria.
To compound India’s misery, the Greco-Roman wrestlers cut sorry figures. Manish Kundu and Hardeep Singh lost their bouts in the 67 kg and 97 kg against lowly wrestlers from Latvia and Morocco. None of the other wrestlers could win a single bout. To get an idea about how bad India’s performance was in Greco-Roman, the fact that none of them got a chance in repechage shows they did not lose to the best in the world.
The story was no different in men’s freestyle, with Jitender Kinha (74 kg), Sachin Rathi (79 kg), Pawan Kumar (86 kg) and Khatri losing in first round. None of the wrestlers got a chance in repechage. Barring Rathi, others are veterans of their categories.
Need for changes
The federation is now thinking of taking a call on whether the best wrestlers with a proven track record should be sent to international tournaments regardless of whether they win the trials or not. “The young wrestlers lose to these old wrestlers in the trials and we are bound to send them,” Tomar said. “But now, the federation will take some calls like sending the best wrestler in certain categories even if he or she loses in the trials.”
This was proposed after the federation had to deal with a similar situation in Budapest. In the women’s 59 kg category, Sangeeta Phogat, who won the selection trials, was selected but later pulled out citing injury. Her sister Geeta was called up but before she joined the team, Sangeeta wrote to the federation saying she is fully fit and will wrestle in Budapest.
That was not all. Sangeeta ended up injuring herself again in Budapest. Geeta was then flown to Budapest but she refused to take part saying it would be difficult for her to reduce her weight. Two days before the competition, Sarita Mor was called up and she ended up reaching the quarter-finals.
The only saving grace for India were the two medals that Bajrang and Dhanda won, making these world championships the second best after the 2013 edition which was, incidentally, also held in Budapest. Impressive performances by Ritu Phogat (50 kg) and Ritu Malik (65 kg) earned them fifth-place finishes. Sumit Malik (125 kg) reached the semi-finals, surprising everyone, but surrendered his medal bout rather tamely.
Now, the Indian federation is counting on new talent that will come up in the next six months so that they can prepare for the 2019 Worlds in Astana, Kazakhstan, which will also serve as the first qualifying event for the Tokyo Olympics.
“We don’t want any old wrestlers going there and losing so during the upcoming national competition we hope we can get some new wrestlers and get rid of these old guys,” Tomar said.