Indian GP wrestling loses sheen as Amit pulls out,Sushil unlikely

Three of Indias four Olympic bound wrestlers,expected to be the marquee names at the Hari Ram Indian Grand Prix event,are unlikely to participate in the inaugural edition beginning Friday.

Three of Indias four Olympic bound wrestlers,expected to be the marquee names at the Hari Ram Indian Grand Prix event,are unlikely to participate in the inaugural edition beginning Friday. On Thursday,55kg wrestler Amit Kumar was forced to withdraw after being diagnosed with chicken pox. Equally doubtful are Beijing Olympics bronze medalist Sushil Kumar (66kg) and Yogeshwar Dutt (60kg). While Dutt has a back injury,Sushil had injured his right knee during the World OG qualifying event in Taiyuan,China.

Both the wrestlers and their coaches dont want to risk further aggravating their injuries,especially with the Olympics only two months away. In fact,the issue of Sushils availability for the event has been a topic of friction between the members of coaching staff and the WFI officials for over three weeks now. Even on Thursday,the federation officials were unable to get the coaches nod to their diktat.

No decision has been taken on Sushil as of now. We still have time to take a call on his availability as the weigh-in for his category is only day after, chief coach Vinod Kumar told The Indian Express. We have to realise that Olympics are only a couple of months away so we dont want to take any risks, Vinod added. Another round of meetings is scheduled for Friday morning,where WFI president Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh and secretary general Raj Singh would meet Sushil in person to decide on the issue.

Organisers,however,are keeping fingers crossed that the WFI top brass will manage to get the biggest name in Indian wrestling to participate. In their publicity blitz,the organisers had plastered Sushils pictures all around to promote the event. Narsingh Yadav is the sole London-bound wrestler whose participation is guaranteed. Yadav was there for the weigh-ins at the Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium on Thursday. With Amit out,Nitin Kumar and Vinod Kumar would be the hostss best bet in the 55kg category.