Former Olympic medalist Yogeshwar Dutt is of the opinion that around five to six Indian wrestlers will qualify for the Olympics, despite the mess the WFI has been in the last one year. He also sounded confident that Indian wrestlers could also be in contention to win medals. So far, only teen sensation Antim Panghal has qualified for Paris 2024.
“For the past four Olympics, Indian wrestlers have won medals for the country. We hope this trend continues in the 2024 Paris Olympics. But wrestling for the past year has been in a mess. So, far only one wrestler has qualified Antim Panghal. I have full faith that our 5-6 wrestlers will qualify for the Olympics and win medals.
“When PM Modi meets its players after the Olympics, Asian Games, and Commonwealth Games it motivates them. PM Modi especially takes care of them then it is big. After poor performance in the Rio Olympics he introduced TOPS schemes and with the help of that lot of money was spent on players. The result is there for everyone to see.”
Dutt also identified wrestlers who could win medals. “Last time Deepak Punia missed out on a bronze in the last few seconds. Ravi Dahiya won silver. He has recovered from injury recently. Aman is young and has good performance under his belt. Antim is a World Championship medallist. She won a medal in Asian Games too in the 53 kg weight category.
“She is a potential prospect for an Olympic medal and so is Aman. Deepak Punia is there. So, there are many,” Yogeshwar added.
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