Most of the Indian women wrestlers who reached the Paris Olympic Games Village are spending their time in collecting daily passes for their personal coaches and physios instead of training. Vinesh Phogat is accompanied by her coach Voler Akos and physio Ashwini Patil who is also the official physio of the Indian team. They have got accreditation whereas the rest living outside need permission to come to the sports village. Last Panghal (women 53 kg), Anshu Malik (women 57 kg) and Ritika Hooda (76 kg) have reached Khelgaon and they need personal support staff for training.
The IOA granted travel permission to their support staff but all are outside the Games Village and require daily passes to enter. A source said, “The wrestling competitions are starting from Monday and when the players should be focusing on training, they are busy getting daily passes to the coaches. They are calling or emailing the concerned people for help.” Anshu and Ritika reached Khelgaon on Sunday. The source said, “Anshu is trying to get her father Dharamveer to come here. At the same time, she wants Bhagat Singh and Vikas to be with her. All his energy is being spent on this.
Ritika’s coach Mandeep has also reached Paris but his entire focus is on preparation. The source said, “Ritika and Aman are completely focused on preparation. They also want their coaches to be with them but they are not letting it affect their preparations.” An IOA official said he does not understand why the wrestlers do not trust the national coaches. “National coaches like Jagmandar Singh and Virender Dahiya are also there,” he said. If everyone wants personal staff then what is the need for national coaches. Don’t know why they don’t trust the national coaches.
