Sanjay Singh, the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) President has said that India can bag four to five medals in the 2028 Olympics. In the Paris Olympics early this month, Vinesh Phogat came close to winning a medal. However, due to her disqualification on the grounds of being overweight, she missed the opportunity. India managed only one medal in wrestling, i.e. Bronze by Aman Sehrawat. Currently, WFI continues to be suspended by the Indian Sports Ministry. However, United World Wrestling (UWW) lifted WFI’s suspension.
The Indian Sports Ministry suspended WFI following the organization’s election on December 24, 2023. Meanwhile, Singh, without naming the institution’s interfering with WFI’s functioning, has said that the Indian Wrestling Federation needs to work independently to produce results. “If WFI is allowed to do its work independently and a couple of institutions stop interfering in our functioning, we can get the country four to five medals in women’s wrestling in the next Olympics,” Sanjay Singh told PTI.
Vinesh Phogat must reconsider her retirement: Sanjay Singh
On being asked about the speculations of Phogat joining the politics, Singh said that it’s the personal choice of the 30-year-old.
Singh opined, “If Vinesh Phogat has to play pure wrestling, she should reconsider her decision of retirement as the new generation of women wrestlers will get inspiration from her and move forward. The way she is sharing a political platform nowadays, if she has to do politics (in future), then she should not do politics in wrestling.”
Phogat remains the first Indian Women to make it to the final of the Olympic Games. She reached the finals unbeaten.