Tokyo Olympic silver medalist Ravi Dahiya
Olympic silver medalist Ravi Dahiya says he has decided to miss the upcoming Wrestling World Championships as he has not got time to prepare for the selection trials conducted by WFI next week to pick the Indian team for the prestigious tournament.
The Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) will hold trials for the world on Tuesday, which will be held in Oslo, Norway from October 2-10.
Dahiya and other Tokyo Games medalists are traveling from state to state for several felicitation ceremonies being held in their honour.
“I don’t want to be on the mat without preparation. What’s the point of competing without enough practice. So I miss the World Championship because I don’t want to go to the trials without enough practice,” soft-spoken Dahiya told PTI.
Dahiya will be the second big star to be missing from the Indian line-up as Tokyo Olympics bronze medalist Bajrang Punia has also been ruled out due to a ligament rupture in his right knee.
“I will try to take part in one or two tournaments before the end of the season after starting serious training from next month,” he said.
However, when asked if too many functions are bothering her, Dahiya did not complain.
“How do you tell them ‘no’? They are your own people, who want to show you respect and dignity. The only thing I get tired of is,” he said.
It was expected that Dahiya would compete in the 61kg category instead of his usual 57kg category in the world as losing and maintaining weight is a huge issue for the wrestlers.
It takes a lot of hard work to lose weight because they not only give up food, sometimes they go without water for a long time.
Dahiya had no objection to the fact that the WFI has not exempted him from the trial.
“The federation is doing the right thing by calling for trials. They know what’s best. I don’t mind attending the trials,” he said, adding that he would soon convey his decision to the federation.
WFI assistant secretary Vinod Tomar said there was nothing wrong in asking star wrestlers to appear in the trials.
Tomar said, “We have to prepare the second line as well. We have to give everyone a chance to claim to be in the national team, so everyone has to come to the trial.”
Dahiya, 23, said he was busy to such an extent that he could not spend time with his family even after returning from Tokyo.
“I went home last week and that too for only two hours. There was not enough time. I met my father at the airport when we came back,” said Dahiya, son of a farmer from Nahari village. Haryana said.
Meanwhile, there was still no clarity on the three wrestlers – Vinesh Phogat, Sonam Malik and Divya Kakran – participating in the trials as the WFI is yet to take a decision on their respective issues.
Vinesh was suspended for indiscipline during the Tokyo Games while Sonam was served a show cause notice for misconduct. Divya was also sent a notice by her father for her remarks against the Federation.
Both Sonam and Divya have apologized for their behaviour.
Vinesh apologized unconditionally for not wearing the official kit during her bouts, but “respectfully” disagreed with the allegation that she did not train and stayed with fellow Indian wrestlers in Tokyo.
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