The Union Sports Ministry has sought an immediate explanation from the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) regarding its decision to hold a retrial in the women's 63kg category for the Olympic qualifier to be held in Helsinki from May 4 to 6.
Geetika Jakhar, who was declared the winner over Alka Tomar in the trials held on April 19, approached the Ministry after she was asked by the WFI to participate in the retrial.
“Geetika has stated that the WFI has decided to hold a retrial only for the category in which she has been declared as the winner in the trials held on April 19 since she belongs to Haryana and the contestant whom she defeated is from Uttar Pradesh,” said a Ministry letter issued on Sunday. “It is not clear as to why retrial is being done in her case when she was declared the winner...This action of the federation does not appear to be in keeping with the principles of good governance and transparency,” said the letter.
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The WFI has cleared the selection of all other weights for the Helsinki qualifier.
WFI secretary Raj Singh said on Sunday the decision to have a retrial was taken because of some doubts over the April 19 bout between the two.
“Since Geetika had lost by fall in the second round, the third round shouldnot have been fought. It happened as someone (among the judges) had doubts over it. To make things clear, we have asked for a retrial on Monday,” said Raj.
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He dismissed the reference of any favour to Alka on the ground that she hailed from Uttar Pradesh, to which the newly-elected WFI chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh belonged.
Interestingly, the whole controversy will lose its significance if Anita, who has been chosen for the Olympic qualification event in Taiyuan, China (April 27-29), earns a ticket to the London Games in the 63kg category.
Meanwhile, the WFI selected a 14-member team, led by former World champion and Olympic medallist Sushil Kumar, for the Olympic qualification event in Taiyuan, China (April 27-29).
The squad: Freestyle: 66kg: Sushil Kumar; 74kg: Narsingh Yadav; 84kg: PawanKumar; 96kg: Mausam Khatri; 120kg: Joginder Kumar.
Greco Roman: 55kg: Rajender Kumar; 60kg: Anil Kumar; 66kg: Sunil Kumar Rana; 74kg: Ravinder Khatri; 84kg: Manoj Kumar; 120kg: Rishi Pal.
Women: 48kg: Babita; 63kg: Anita; 72kg: Gursharanpreet Kaur.