Indian Sports: News and Discussion

[Crazywithmath]

https://indianexpress.com/article/sports/sport-others/india-male-wrestlers-no-paris-2024-olympic-quota-bishek-9280243/

pathetic condition of wrestlers . very few indians have qualified till now. looks like this games will be another disappointment.

5 female wrestlers qualified - could have been 6/6 (total 6 categories are there) if Sonam were not injured - still our highest ever.

As far as male wrestlers are concerned, both Ravi and Deepak got injured and we all know what Bajrang has been up to. A short Olympic cycle has made it difficult for younger wrestlers to break into top 10. Aman qualified in 57 kg but he is only 20; not a medal contender yet (scenario will change if Ravi beats him in trials).

Sujeet (21) and Jaydeep (20) narrowly missed out on quotas in 65 kg and 74 kg respectively. A 20 yo Sujeet gave a scare to the world champion Zein Ratherford (who won by a razor thin 2-2 margin on criteria) and Jaydeep was robbed by the refs against a former Olympic bronze medallist.

In another 2 years, all 3 of them would be serious medal contenders; I don't see better upcoming wrestlers who can challenge them. I don't think there is any downfall in Indian wrestling - more of a generation gap.

It is difficult to predict the exact numbers but we should be able to medal in Paris too; possibly, multiple medals.

 

[Azaad]

 

[Crazywithmath]

Unfortunately no Olympic qualification for her. Repeated injuries have destroyed her potential.

 

[SKC]

Unfortunately no Olympic qualification for her. Repeated injuries have destroyed her potential.

Right from her beginning she has been down with injury.

India needs to work on a world class support and medical staff in order to help athletes recovers quickly and be on their prime during major events.

 

[Crazywithmath]

Right from her beginning she has been down with injury.

India needs to work on a world class support and medical staff in order to help athletes recovers quickly and be on their prime during major events.

Vaulters tend to be injured quite a lot even in the best sporting nations out there. Except that the likes of the US have excellent squad depth - they can immediately replace their athletes. We otoh are yet to produce a single world class gymnast after Deepa. Also, Olympic qualifiers favour nations with bench strength (70% of the quotas are through team events where we have zero representation) so again a disadvantage for us.

Not to forget Deepa's rise to the fame was an anomaly in itself - she went from practicing on makeshift jugad pits to finishing 4th at the Olympics in a span of a few years. Unlike in say javelin, shooting, badminton or hockey (where we have excellent set-ups) we did not have any infrastructure in gymnastics and we still don't. It is a crying shame that the grassroot system has not improved despite the exploits of a world class gymnast.