Asian Olympics Qualifiers: Sushil Kumar to skip selection trails- Two-time Olympic medal holder wrestler Sushil Kumar will not take part in selection trials for the Asian Championships, Asian leg qualifiers for the Olympics. The qualifiers are scheduled to take place at the KD Jadhav indoor wrestling hall in Delhi later today. On Monday, Sushil announced that he is pulling out of the trials due to crucial training time lost in clearing the mess in the School Games Federation of India (SGFI). Sushil Kumar is the president at SGFI.
“I got a call from the wrestling federation this morning enquiring about my participation in trials. I told them that I won’t be able to participate because I wasn’t in the right frame of mind due to the ongoing mess in the SGFI for the past three-four months,” Sushil told The Times of India
The 2012 London Olympics silver medallist was elected as the SGFI chief last week without any opposition for the second straight term. The decision came after the sports ministry had asked the school body to hold fresh elections.
Sushil stressed that he won’t be retiring from wrestling any time soon. He will continue to take part in events.
“The forgery committed in my name took a toll on my mental health and I wasn’t focusing 100 per cent on my training. Now that I have started practising again, any event or Tokyo qualifier coming up next will see my participation. It has always been my mantra that I don’t compete in tournaments without proper training. When you are performing for the country, you want to be fully fit and committed,” he added.
The Tokyo Olympic qualifier will next take place in Kazakhstan from April 9 to 11 and Asian Championships from April 13 to 18.
Sushil has won 17 medals across numerous competitions.
The final event of the Olympics qualifier is slated to take place in Bulgaria from May 6 to 9. Sushil said that he is looking forward to the meet. But, if any other wrestler manages to win the 74 kg quota then Sushil’s chances to compete at the upcoming Tokyo Olympics will be dashed out.
Sushil’s absence will make way for Narsingh Yadav, Jitendra Kumar, Gourav Baliyan and current champion Sandeep Singh Mann- all in the freestyle 74 kg category.
Three Olympic weight categories in freestyle will be held in Delhi today—74 kg, 97 kg, 125 kg
Six weights in Greco-Roman- 60 kg, 67 kg, 77 kg, 87 kg, 97 kg and 130 kg.
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