His chances of a third successive Olympic appearance hanging in balance, two-time medallist Sushil Kumar will not hesitate in going to Court if his demand for a trial against Narsingh Yadav is not accepted by the Wrestling Federation of India.
The spotlight is on wrestler Sushil Kumar to fetch India a medal in the London Olympics as he now remains the main hope for the country, and the 2008 Beijing Games hero says he is determined to give his best.
The 32-year-old wrestler, who a bronze medal at the 2008 Beijing Olympics and silver at the London Games in 2012, was omitted from the Wrestling Federation of India's Rio preparatory camp, which will begin in Sonepat on Wednesday.
'I didn't go for the World Championships to see someone else take my place at the Olympics.'
The seat had fallen vacant following the death of Chirag Paswan's father and Lok Janshakti Party founder Ram Vilas Paswan. The BJP has nominated former Bihar deputy chief minister Sushil Kumar Modi for the seat.
The Congress and the AAP fought the Lok Sabha polls together in Delhi while they had contested separately in Punjab.
India's fledgling Olympic campaign on Wednesday received a sensational boost with unheralded grappler Sushil Kumar clinching a bronze medal and boxer Vijender Kumar assuring himself of at least a bronze to give the country a record three medals for the first time ever.
Kumar beat Kazakhstan's Leonid Spiridonov 3:1 in the 65 kg freestyle event at the Beijing Games on Wednesday.
Double Olympic medallist Sushil Kumar has insisted that his participation in television reality show MTV Roadies is not going to affect his preparations for the 2016 Rio Olympics.
No final decision has been taken on the alliance with the Congress for the October 5 Haryana assembly polls yet, sources in Aam Aadmi Party said on Sunday. The last date to file nominations is September 12.
Modi, one of the tallest leaders of the Bharatiya Janata Party in Bihar, had been missing from action for quite some time and was conspicuous by his absence when Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman released the party's manifesto earlier in the day.
Caught in the middle of a controversy over arranging a selection trial to choose between Sushil Kumar and Narsingh Pancham Yadav for this year's Rio Olympics, the Wrestling Federation of India is likely to meet on Tuesday to break the deadlock, which is threatening to snowball into a massive furore.
The Wrestling Federation of India (WFI), on Thursday, denied sending any list of Olympic probables, sans Sushil Kumar, to the Indian Olympic Association, insisting that the two-time medallist is not yet out of contention for the Rio Games.
The 34-year-old two-time Olympic medallist proved that class is permanent, and that the youngsters still have a long way to go, at least in his weight category -- the men's 74kg freestyle.
In what came as a huge shock, defending champion and star Indian wrestler Sushil Kumar crashed out in the second round of the 66kg freestyle category at the World Wrestling Championships in Istanbul on Sunday.
His plea for selection trial dismissed by the Delhi High Court, double Olympic medallist Sushil Kumar will again approach the Wrestling Federation of India and then a larger bench of the same HC in his quest for competing at the Rio Olympics before deciding on whether to challenge the verdict in the Supreme Court.
India are grappling with a dilemma over who to select between the logical candidate or a sentimental favourite as the country's representative in men's 74kg freestyle wrestling at the Rio Olympics. Since winning India's quota place by capturing a bronze medal at last year's World Championship in Las Vegas, Narsingh Yadav had more or less taken his ticket to Brazil for granted. With the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) also backing the 26-year-old, it seemed his place was certain until double Olympic medallist Sushil Kumar approached the Delhi High Court on Monday demanding a match between the pair to determine who should compete in Rio. "As asked by the court, we heard Sushil and noted his point. We'd submit our observations and will wait for the court's instruction," WFI assistant secretary Vinod Tomar told Reuters on Thursday.
With Narsingh's participation in serious doubt, Aruneel Sadadekar/Rediff.com spoke exclusively to Sushil Kumar's coach Satpal Singh.
'Narsingh is a very senior wrestler and has done a fabulous job by sealing the Olympics berth.' 'But he needs to understand that the berth belongs to the country and not any individual.'
That was a phase, this is also a phase -- was philosophical Sushil Kumar's first reaction as he celebrated his third successive gold medal at the 2018 Commonwealth Games, the build-up to which was marred by a selection controversy and questions over his fitness.
The Delhi High Court on Monday, dismissed wrestler Sushil Kumar's plea seeking selection trial with Narsingh Yadav for 74 kg freestyle category for a berth at the Rio Olympics.
A first information report (FIR) has been filed against four people in connection with the suicide of a 34-year-old deputy general manager of a private firm, Atul Subhash, who died by suicide, accusing his wife, her family members, and a judge of harassment, extortion, and corruption.
'The Federation, which is an autonomous body, is the final authority'
Rubbishing rumours that he had engineered the dope fiasco surrounding Olympic-bound Narsingh Yadav, a fuming Satpal Singh said it was wrong to point fingers at him and his protege without any proof. A fuming Satpal said the allegations against him were absolutely baseless and was ready to face any inquiry.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Monday congratulated Sushil Kumar for becoming the first Indian wrestler to win a gold medal at the World Championships, in Moscow.
Amidst the dilemma of double Olympic medallist Sushil Kumar and Narsingh Yadav fighting each other for a place in the World Championships, the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) has decided to hold selection trials of the senior grapplers on July 6-7.
After missing the Dave Schultz Cup due to a shoulder injury, star Indian wrestler Sushil Kumar is now eyeing a return at the Asian Wrestling Championships starting from April 18 to 22.
Two-time Olympic medallist Sushil Kumar has said the dope scandal surrounding fellow wrestler Narsingh Yadav, who was picked ahead of him for the Rio Olympics, is "unfortunate".
World champion Sushil Kumar added another feather to his cap with a gold medal at the 2010 Commonwealth Games in the men's 66-kg freestyle wrestling event at the Indira Gandhi Sports Complex in Delhi, on Sunday.
London Games silver medallist Sushil Kumar is hoping to produce more Olympic medal winners at the newly-inaugurated Indian Railway Wrestling Academy.
Wrestler Bajrang Punia clinched India's first gold medal in the 18th Asian Games after defeating Takatani Daichi of Japan in the men's 65 kg freestyle title bout, in Jakarta, on Sunday.
Ramdev heaped praise on Sushil Kumar's CWG feat
Star wrestler Sushil Kumar created history on Sunday as he scripted his name as India's best-ever individual Olympian by assuring at least a silver medal in the London Olympics by entering the finals of the 66kg class on Sunday.
India's legendary cricketer Sachin Tendulkar made a phone call to wrestler Sushil Kumar immediately after he won the silver medal at the London Olympics. 'Congratulations on winning the silver medal. You have made the country proud,' Tendulkar told him over the phone.
'AAP's clear goal is to remove the BJP from Haryana politics. But if anyone considers us weak, then it will be their biggest political error'
Sushil Kumar, a bronze medal winner at the Beijing Olympics last year, missed out on another medal when he lost in the semi-finals of the Wrestling World Championships in Denmark.
Not a man for diplomatic circumlocution, wrestler Sushil Kumar on Wednesday said it would have been injustice if he was denied the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award even after winning the bronze medal in Beijing Olympics.
The Delhi HC had issued a notice to the Wrestling Federation of India and the Centre in reply to the plea by wrestler Sushil Kumar over his selection battle with Narsingh Yadav for the Rio Olympics.
The talks between two sides have been stuck over the number of seats to be contested by AAP, with the party demanding 10 seats and the Congress offering 5, party sources said.
Sushil took a minute and 20 seconds to defeat Johannes Botha of South Africa on technical superiority to claim his third successive gold medal at the Games.
