By- Amanpreet Singh
Rohtak (Haryana), Jul 23 (PTI) A look at NADA’s list of suspended athletes reveals that wrestling has the second most dope offenders among all sporting disciplines in India.
The number stands at 19, but what is alarming is that five of them are minors.
If the menace of doping has spread to the junior level in wrestling, it’s time that stakeholders wake up and start taking corrective measures before the situation gets worse.
U23 world champion and Olympian Reetika Hooda’s provisional suspension has yet again made doping a hot topic in Indian wrestling.
Indian wrestlers’ performance has been very encouraging in the last few years, especially at the junior level and this advantage must not be lost due to the misadventure of a few.
The Indian teams, especially women, have trumped powerhouses like Japan and the USA to clinch junior team championships, recently.
Wresting’s graph as an Olympic sport has only seen an upward trend despite being mired in controversies intermittently.
Be it World Championships, Asian Games, Asian Championships, or Olympics, Indian wrestlers now enter these prestigious tournaments as medal contenders, if not in all but at least in some categories.
It was natural that mat success brought with it money, government jobs, career-changing sponsorships and life-changing cash awards.
All this, has made a huge impact on the psyche of athletes and their parents.