Besides emerging victorious in the selection trials against Alka Tomar, Geetika Jakhar also won a court battle against the Wrestling Federation of India to obtain her right to compete in the Olympic qualifier.
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.
The alleged conspiracy in the Narsingh Yadav dope scandal began to unravel, on Wednesday, with the wrestler identifying two fellow grapplers as the saboteurs, who contaminated his food with a banned steroid, in a formal police complaint.
Despite winning the case in the Delhi High Court against the Wrestling Federation of India, Geetika Jakhar's Olympic dream is still hanging by a thread as she is yet to get her visa for Helsinki, Finland, where the last qualifying event for London Games is starting on Thursday.
The suspense over wrestler Narsingh Yadav's participation in the Rio Olympic Games was prolonged further after the National Anti-Doping Agency deferred its final verdict on the doping scandal to Monday.
The National Anti-Doping Agency (NADA) Director General Navin Agarwal confirmed that they found two samples taken fromNarsingh Yadav positive for dope.
Sushil Kumar quashed talk of retirement and insisting that postponement of Tokyo Olympics has given him a very good shot at qualifying for his fourth Games. The 36-year-old was struggling to make the cut for the Olympics, postponed to 2021 owing to the global COVID-19 pandemic.
A summary of sports events and sports persons, who made news on Sunday
Ace Indian wrestlers Vinesh Phogat and Sakshi Malik created history by grabbing two spots in women's wrestling for India for the Rio Olympics, in Istanbul, on Saturday.
The Wrestling Federation of India president Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh blamed the organisers for the country's dismal show at the World Championships, saying the lack of facilities in Paris resulted in wrestlers losing out on 15 days of training ahead of the mega-event.
Jitender lost 1-3 to Kaisanov in the summit clash at the KD Jadhav Indoor Stadium.
Wrestler Bajrang Kumar's scuttled trip to the USA for a crucial competition was brought back on track by Olympic bronze-medallist Yogeshwar Dutt, who convinced SAI officials in New Delhi to sanction his expenses for the Dave Schultz Memorial International Tournament in Colorado Springs.
The four dope-tainted wrestlers who were earlier named in the Commonwealth Games squad only to be replaced later will not be taken back even after the provisional suspension on them was lifted by NADA Disciplinary Panel, Wrestling Federation of India said on Monday.
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".
If a keen tussle for a ticket to Rio Games between double Olympic medallist Sushil Kumar and rising star Narsingh Yadav grabbed headlines off the mat, the youngsters showed the sport's bench strength in a country that gave the world the much-touted Pro Wrestling League this year.
'I am only saying that whoever between me and Narsingh is better, should represent the country at the Olympics' 'Trails took place in the past, before the 1992 and 1996 Olympics. Last time, there was no competition, thus the trails did not take place. There was no one to challenge me in my weight category last time. But this time, the situation is different'
During a felicitation function of World Championships medal-winning wrestlers by Sports Minister Kiren Rijiju in New Delhi on Monday, the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) President Brij Bhushan Sharan mooted the idea of making wrestling the national sport, which received the backing of double Olympic medallist Sushil Kumar.
A summary of sports events and persons who made news on Monday
Bajrang Punia was nominated for the Khel Ratna by the Wrestling Federation of India following his twin gold medals at this year's Gold Coast Commonwealth Games and Jakarta Asian Games.
The rising graph of the country's grapplers seems to be having no positive impact on the proposed Indian Wrestling League (IWL) as it has been postponed once again due to mild response from prospective franchises.
Indian wrestler Narsingh Yadav has been banned for four years by the Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS) following an appeal by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA).
Sports Minister Vijay Goel on Tuesday said that the government will provide all support to help dope-cleared wrestler Narsingh Yadav represent the country at the forthcoming 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.
Sushil, who is yet to make a formal statement on the matter, put out a cryptic tweet after the controversy broke out.
Sushil struggled at the Jakarta Asian Games leading to questions on whether he was good enough to go any further at 36.
The Pro Wrestling League's star quotient took a massive hit on Sunday after one of the Phogat sisters, who are in the limelight following a blockbuster biopic on their struggle, was ruled out of the ongoing season.
Narsingh Yadav's chances of making it to the Olympics will be known on Thursday. The National Anti-Doping Agency's disciplinary panel adjourned its hearing on the dope scandal surrounding the wrestler on Wednesday evening, even as he failed a second dope test and lodged a police complaint against two fellow-grapplers.
Sushil Kumar, whose defeat in a tune-up event raised doubts about his form ahead of the Asian Games, on Friday, asserted that he is 'far from finished' and is not out there to prove anything.
Indian wrestler Yogeshwar Dutt is not keen to collect the upgraded silver medal from 2012 London Olympics on humanitarian grounds given that the original second place finisher's positive dope test came after his death.
The weightlifter, who tested positive at the Athens Olympics, is challenging the life ban imposed on her by the IOA in the Delhi high court.
A summary of sports events and sports persons, who made news on Friday
Asked about the bout Rana alleged it was Sushil's strategy to claim he had been bitten in order to take rest during the bout.
Star India wrestler Yogeshwar Dutt will have to wait to know whether his bronze medal from the 2012 London Olympics is upgraded to silver till the time his sample is cleared by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA). Reports emerged that the grappler's bronze would be upgraded to silver after second-place finisher of the London Games -- late Besik Kudukhov of Russia -- was stripped off his medal for failing a dope test.
Two-time Olympic medallist Sushil Kumar said it would have been a "disappointing and wrong decision" on the part of the government if the Home Ministry officials had their way in not awarding the India's highest civilian honour Bharat Ratna to sportspersons.
Bajrang Punia and Vinesh Phogat are in contention for the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award
Veteran wrestler Geeta Phogat feels 'lack of training' is the reason behind India's poor show at the recently-concluded World Championships, which she terms as the 'toughest competition' to win a medal.
Vinesh Phogat doesn't mind being called arrogant for it since the attitude comes in handy to intimidate rivals on the mat.
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.
Deputy Chef de Mission Balbir Singh Kushwaha said that facilities at the Games Village were good.
Ankita Raina and top seeds men's doubles pair of Rohan Bopanna and Divij Sharan assured India of at least a couple of bronze medals in the tennis competition by progressing to the semifinals at the Asian Games, in Palembang, on Wednesday.
A summary of sports events and sports persons, who made news on Saturday
