WFI president believes wrestlers will make it 12 out of 12 medals at CWG in Birmingham
Commonwealth Games (CWG) in Birmingham, and Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) president Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh claimed in an interview with TOI that all 12 will return home with medals. Excerpts…What are your expectations from the Indian wrestling contingent at the upcoming CWG?Twelve wrestlers are going for the Games, and I think all 12 can bring home medals. Colour of the medal will depend on their performance. A lot of factors come into play during big events; for example, we were expecting a medal from Vinesh (Phogat) during the Tokyo Olympics, then we were hoping for a gold or silver for Bajrang (Punia)… there are circumstances, but if the wrestlers going to Birmingham give their best, they’re surely going to win a medal. Even our sixth or sixth number wrestler – from the pool we have – can get a medal at the Commonwealth Games. After the Tokyo Olympics, you had problems with organisations like the Olympic Gold Quest (OGQ) or JSW…We had talks with these organisations for a long period and now they are going to comply with our rules. The federation doesn’t want a single paisa from them. But whichever young wrestler they’ve to sponsor, for that performance should be the only criteria. Nobody should be given money by just looking at their faces, check the performance. So now we have given the list of best performers to them and they can support these wrestlers. There were some issues with the players after the Olympics…Those are things of the past. I can assure that our players are disciplined now. They totally act in accordance with the federation and government of India. We have full control over the sport in India.
