WITH tears in her eyes, Rio Olympic bronze medallist Sakshi Malik put her wrestling shoes on the table and announced her retirement from the sport as a mark of protest against Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh loyalist Sanjay Singh winning the Wrestling Federation of India (W FI) election for the top job, here Thursday. Sanjay, a close associate of outgoing WFI chief became the new President with his panel winning 13 of the 15 posts in the elections — a result that expectedly brought disappointment for the top three wresters — Malik, Vinesh Phogat and Bajrang Punia — who had aggressively pushed for a change of guard at the federation.

 

The top wrestlers had early this year, launched an agitation against Brij Bhushan who they had accused of sexually exploiting women wrestlers. The matter is in court. “We fought from our heart but if a man like Brij Bhushan, his business partner and a close aide is elected as the president of WFI, I give up wrestling. From today onwards you will not see me on the mat,” a tearyeyed Sakshi said and kept her shoes on the table in a dramatic announcement. “We wanted a female president but that did not happen,” the 31-yearold, who is also a C o m m o n w e a l t h Games gold medallist, added. Winning a bronze medal at the 2016 Rio Games was the highlight of Sakshi’s 13-year old career in which she won three CWG medals, including gold in the 2022 edition, and four Asian Championship medals. Sakshi had become India’s first woman wrestler to win an Olympic medal.

 

The Haryana wrestler, though, was struggling on the mat before the latest CWG edition and had conceded her spot in the national team to young Sonam Malik, who beat her during the national selection trials a number of times. Sakshi appeared to be getting back her form during the 2022 Birmingham Games but it may be mentioned that the level of competition at the CWG is pretty weak as wrestlers from power houses Japan and Iran do not compete there. Olympic medallist Punia and Phogat also addressed the media. “It’s unfortunate that government did not stand by its word that no Brij Bhushan loyalist will contest the WFI elections,” rued Bajrang and added that he is not sure if he will continue to pursue competitive wrestling.