Dramatic scenes were witnessed at the Olympic Bhawan on Saturday when two rival factions of the Kurash Association of India (KAI) came with different sets of names for the Asian Games 2023 and a leading player, Neha Thakur, alleged that she was attacked by her competitor in the 52kg category. Neha alleged that she was attacked with an intent to “kill” by her competitor when she went to submit the documents to prove that she was eligible to be included in the squad for the Hangzhou Asian Games.
The KAI factions came with different sets of names to be submitted to the IOA ahead of the July 15 deadline set by the Asian Games Organising Committee for sending entries. Neha alleged that while her name was in the list given by one faction of the KAI, it was missing in the other list.
Interestingly, both the factions have veteran Congress leader Jagdish Tytler as their patron and also have the same registration number under the Societies Act but they have two different sets of office-bearers. Neha’s name figures in the list of KAI led by Rajan Varghese with Vikrant Kumar as its general secretary, while the other faction has Dharmendra Malhotra as its president.
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“I appeared for the first trials conducted by Dharmendra Malhotra faction, which calls itself the original faction, at the Thyagaraj Stadium here on June 25. I kept waiting on the mat for the competitors to come for the bout but all of them declined to fight me.
“International rules say if a competitor backs out, the bout should be treated as a walkover. As per rules, I emerged as the No.1 player in the category. “Another trial was organised yesterday (Friday) at Rohtak by the Rajan Varghese and Vikrant Kumar faction, where I emerged second-best behind Bharti. My name was included in the list sent by them to the IOA. But, I’m sure my name won’t figure in the squad for the Asian Games,” Neha alleged.
“All along I was being assured that my name will be in the list for the Asian Games 2023, but I know it will not be there,” she said, adding the other faction had “taken money from the players to send them to the Asian Games”. Neha claimed that she was attacked for the second time.
“This is the second attack on me by the same girl in my weight category who tried to assault me in the trials held on June 25. I had sent a mail to the IOA informing them that there had been a ‘criminal attempt’ on me on June 25 where I had to run for my life.
“She (her competitor) came to know about it. How? I don’t know. She tried to beat me today. If somebody looks at the video footage of the Olympic Bhawan you will see she tried to kill me,” alleged Neha. Repeated attempts to reach out to IOA officials, including its joint secretary Kalyan Chaubey, by phone and messages met with no response.
Neha added that she will file an FIR at Malviya Nagar Police Station. “An IOA official was present there but he too didn’t try to defend me from the attack. I have started fearing for my life now. I could get murdered if I take part in a competition,” added Neha. “Luckily, my sister was accompanying me that I got saved.”
“The IOA is not responding to my request to disclose the names of players in the team. They say they will announce the names, but when, I don’t know.” Dharmendra Malhotra when asked if the KAI factions will be able to have a consensus on the names of the players for the Asian Games before the July 15 deadline expires said, “We are having a meeting, the team will certainly be announced before the deadline and it will go for the Asian Games 2023.“
He declined to confirm that there was an incident at the IOA office. “Aisa koi bawal nahin hai (There was no major issue). Players who finish second or third in bouts, it’s natural that they (complain),” he added. Reminded about two sets of teams forwarded by two factions of the KAI, Malhotra said, ”They are those children who had gone to court. We are not against any children. We had organised a trial in April in Bhopal and we shortlisted the children and then we shortlisted them again here (during the trials at Thyagaraj Stadium).”
The Indian kurash contingent at the 2018 Asian Games in Jakarta had made history with the duo of Pincky Balhara and Malaprabha Jadhav winning the silver and bronze medal, respectively. Kurash is a form of wrestling where the main objective is to grab hold of the opponent off their feet, throw them on the ground on their back and claim victory.
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