Antim Panghal had also threatened to move to court and is planning to file a writ petition, challenging the WFI ad-hoc panel’s decision.
Wrestler Antim Panghal is demanding a fair selection trial after the WFI ad-hoc panel announced that Olympic medalist Bajrang Punia and World Championship medalist Vinesh Phogat will get direct entries into the Asian Games.
Antim, who is also in the same category as Vinesh, has performed well in recent times. She became India’s first U20 World Champion last year and also won a silver medal at the senior Asian Championship this year.
She is upset with the decision to give direct entries to Bajrang and Vinesh, as she feels that she has a good chance of winning a medal in the Asian Games. She has also threatened to move to court and file a writ petition, challenging the ad-hoc panel’s decision.
The WFI guidelines state that selection trials are mandatory in all weight categories, but the Selection Committee has the discretion to select iconic players like medalists of Olympic/World Championship without trials provided recommendation by Chief Coach/Foreign Expert.
Both Bajrang and Vinesh fit in that criteria, but in this case, men’s freestyle national coach Jagmander Singh and women’s national coach Virender Dahiya were not consulted.
Dahiya said that he does not know how fit Bajrang and Vinesh are, as they have not competed in the last eight months. He said that the only way to know their fitness is to conduct trials.
Jagmander said that he was not even aware that such a decision had been taken. He said that the ad-hoc panel had stopped calling him for meetings. He said that he had recommended trials in all categories.
It remains to be seen whether Antim will be able to get a fair selection trial. However, her case has highlighted the need for transparency and fairness in the selection process for the Asian Games.
