Bajrang Punia, Rio Olympic bronze medallist Sakshi Malik and her wrestler husband Satyawart Kadiyan, arrived at the minister's house for the meeting on Wednesday morning.
A bitter court battle, followed by an embarrassing dope scandal, before some redemption through an Olympic medal -- Indian wrestling in 2016 mirrored the script of a Bollywood potboiler in which Sakshi Malik emerged as the new star on the horizon. For most part of the year, wrestling hit the headlines for all the wrong reasons, making it a tumultuous Olympic build-up after two-time medallist Sushil Kumar found himself ousted from contention just a couple of months before the Games in Rio. The chain of events that set in ended up disgracing the sport before Sakshi emerged an unlikely saviour in the Brazillian city.
The Indian wrestling contingent were hit with a doping scandal ahead of the 2016 Rio Games, which resulted in freestyle medal contender Narsingh Pancham Yadav being disqualified just days before his scheduled opening bout.
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The allegations were levelled by prominent grapplers such as Vinesh Phogat, Bajrang Punia, Sakshi Malik and Ravi Dahiya.
Olympic champion Abhinav Bindra lent his support to the wrestlers who have been protesting against WFI chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh.
The protesting wrestlers on Friday reached out to Indian Olympic Association (IOA), demanding formation of an inquiry committee to probe the allegations of sexual harassment they have levelled against WFI president Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh.
Delhi Police visits WFI chief's home in UP, records statements of associates, employees.
Apart from the senior competition, the U-17 and U-23 Asian Championships are set to return to Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan for a second straight year. The tournament will take place from June 10 to 18.
IOA's ad-hoc panel plans trials for Asian C'ships from May 17.
Indian wrestlers have not missed a medal since the 2008 Beijing Games and the onus is now on Vinesh Phogat & Co to continue the trend.
The world body said it has been keeping an eye on the protest by the wrestlers against WFI president Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh.
The wrestlers said they are surprised that Prime Minister Narendra Modi felicitates them and clicks pictures with them when they win medals but now he has turned a blind eye to their plight.
Earlier in the day, Singh reached Nandini College premises and met players who had come for a three-day wrestling championship.
National Commission for Women chairperson Rekha Sharma on Thursday said she has sought an action taken report from the Delhi Police Commissioner on the complaints filed by the women wrestlers about alleged sexual harassment.
IOA ad-hoc committee panel members Ashok Garg and Gian Singh favoured a two-stage trial to pick the Indian wrestling squad for the Asian Games and did not recommend exemption to any wrestler, it has come to light.
The trials were initially planned for February 27-29 but got postponed
Indicating that things were far from ideal in the ad-hoc panel, Singh said Bajwa wants to take all the decisions by himself, giving a feeling that the previous WFI setup was still in place.
Bajrang Punia claimed that Yogeshwar Dutt had several times asked him to lose matches on purpose in the past.
The government had assured the protesting wrestlers that a charge-sheet will be filed against the outgoing WFI chief
Delhi Police on Friday filed two FIRs against WFI chief Brij Bhushan on allegations of sexual harassment levelled by seven women wrestlers.
The Indian women's wrestling team had a good preparation for the upcoming World Championship as they finished second in the fifth Cup of the President of Republic of Kazakhstan on Sunday.
The Delhi Police on Friday registered two FIRs in connection with sexual harassment allegations levelled by women wrestlers against Wrestling Federation of India chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh.
Bajrang Punia criticised Brij Bhushan for his comments on the medal won by the grapplers.
The Indian sporting fraternity reacted with disappointment at the (CAS verdict rejecting wrestler Vinesh Phogat's appeal against her Olympic disqualification.
The protesting wrestlers refrained from immersing their medals in the river Ganges after being convinced by Khap and farmer leaders who sought five days to address their grievances.
The Sports Ministry warned of legal action against suspended Wrestling Federation of India president Sanjay Singh for making 'absolutely baseless and mischievous' claims.
'We will buy coolers if the need arises. It's very hot out there. We had brought Rs two lakh cash with us but have already spent about 5-6 lakh rupees so far.'
Former Commonwealth Games gold-medallist Narsingh Pancham Yadav was elected chairman of the Wrestling Federation of India's Athletes' Commission in Varanasi on Wednesday, completing a process that was mandated by the sport's world governing body.
Demand disbanding of WFI
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The much-delayed elections of the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) will be conducted on August 12.
The following is the timeline of the chain of events that led to the suspension of the Wrestling Federation of India by UWW, the sport's global governing body.
Vinesh Phogat was locked in a war of words with cousin Babita, with the former requesting the latter not to weaken their movement.
Protesting wrestlers alleged that the victims are being pressurised to change their statements.
Gandhi's meeting with the wrestlers comes against the backdrop of a controversy surrounding the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI).
'It is Bajrang Punia's personal decision to return the Padma Shri. The WFI polls were held in fair and democratic manner. We will still try to persuade Bajrang to reverse his decision to return Padma Shri.'
'The WFI has taken a decision in principle to let these wrestlers prepare on their own and not disturb them. On their requests, we have decided to let them skip the trials as they are best bets in their weight categories and hardly face any competition'
'Sakshi Malik's medal is her individual and singular accomplishment.' 'So is P V Sindhu's badminton medal.' 'So is Dipa Karmakar's loss-by-a-whisker.' 'So is the surprise that is 18-year-old golfer Aditi Ashok,' says Mitali Saran.
Anshu Malik and Sonam Malik are best friends, thanks to a timely truce called by their parents and coaches.
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