Tension over Vinesh Phogat’s weight class ahead of Asian Games trials

NEW DELHI: After both the Delhi High Court and the Supreme Court cleared wrestler Vinesh Phogat to participate in the Asian Games selection trials, attention has now shifted to a key outstanding issue — the weight category in which he will compete in the trials scheduled at the KD Jadhav Indoor Hall at the IG Stadium here on Saturday. While Vinesh expressed her desire to compete in the women’s 53 kg category, Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) officials insisted that she should only be allowed to compete in the 50 kg division. The Supreme Court, while hearing the matter earlier this week, dismissed WFI’s plea seeking to declare Vinesh unfit to stand trial. A bench of two judges cleared her to participate, but her fifteen-page order did not specifically state the weight class in which she could compete. Subsequently, the apex court also dismissed WFI’s special leave application (SLP) challenging its participation, but similarly did not clarify the category issue.Vinesh’s counsel informed the high court that the wrestler intends to compete in the 53 kg category where prominent wrestlers including Antim Panghala, Nishu Bhanwal and Meenakshi Goyat are expected to participate. However, WFI officials say that since the court orders are silent on the category, she should compete in the 50 kg class, the category in which she last competed at international level.The federation aligned its stance with the WFI’s “Iconic Athlete” policy, which allows elite athletes to be directly considered based on exceptional performance. According to WFI sources, Vinesh’s status as an iconic athlete stems from her campaign at the Paris Olympics in the women’s 50kg category, where she reached the final before being disqualified for being overweight at the weigh-in.Sources said that Vinesh is yet to formally inform the federation about her preferred category for the exams. WFI officials said she may be asked to appear for the 50 kg weigh-in.Meanwhile, former footballer Aditi Chauhan and former Olympic gold medalist hockey captain MM Somaiya will serve as observers from the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) and the Sports Ministry during the trials.