New Delhi: In a major setback to wrestler Sushil Kumar’s Olympic dreams, the Delhi High Court today dismissed his plea for a trial against Narsingh Yadav.
The two-time Olympic medallist Sushil Kumar had earlier appealed to the Delhi High Court seeking a trial with wrestler Narsingh Yadav in order to secure a berth in the 74 kg category in the Rio Olympics.
A Bench led by Justice Manmohan said though Sushil Kumar is a legendary wrestler, the WFI cannot be held wrong for selecting Narsingh yadav for Rio Olympics.
The court also observed that Sushil Kumar has participated in the previous Olympics without going through selection trials before the sporting event.
“Just because Kumar was sent to Georgia and Sonepat for training in 2016, it does not mean there should be a trial,” the Bench observed. Sushil Kumar had vehemently argued that he was being trained by the WFI on tax-payers’ money, giving him an impression that he will get an opportunity to go to the Olympics. Sushil Kumar had claimed mala fide in the WFI's decision.
The court also said that there were high chances of injury if a selection trial is ordered now.
It is worth a mention that the court had initially refused to intervene in the matter and had directed the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) to consider Sushil’s plea.
WFI, on the other hand, had strongly recommended sending Narsingh Yadav for the forthcoming Rio Olympics instead of Sushil Kumar.
Sushil Kumar won a bronze in the 2008 Beijing Olympics and silver in the 2012 London Olympics in the 66 kg division. But the category, ironically, was abolished by the International Wrestling Federation in the year 2014.
This prompted him to move up to the 74 kg weight category, which brought him into competition with Narsingh Yadav, who was the top Indian wrestler in the category.
Sushil Kumar missed the qualification for Rio Olympics due to injury, and Narsingh Yadav secured the berth to represent the country.
( with PTI inputs )
