Paris Olympic medallist Aman disqualified from World Ch'ship for being overweight
New Delhi, Sep 14 (PTI): Olympic medallist Aman Sehrawat was on Sunday disqualified from the World Championship in Zagreb after being found overweight, dealing a massive blow to Indian contingent at the prestigious tournament.
In what turned to be an embarrassing development, Aman, who won a bronze at Paris Olympics last year, was found overweight by 1.7kg during the weigh-in ahead of the competition in the men's freestyle 57kg.
"It's unfortunate and surprising that Aman could not maintain his weight. He was overweight by 1700 grams when he stood in the weight scale. This is not acceptable, actually. How did he get so much extra weight is beyond us," a source within the Indian contingent told PTI from Zagreb.
According to UWW regulations published in 2023, a two-kg weight tolerance is allowed for World Cup, UWW Ranking Series Tournaments and for the international tournaments.
However, tournaments like World Championships and Olympics do not have such provision.
What is surprising that Aman had reached Zagreb, Croatia, on August 25 for an acclimatisation and training camp along with other Indian wrestlers and had around 20 days to maintain and make weight.
The 22-year-old Aman, who trains at the famed Chhattrasal stadium, was one of the strong medal contenders among Indians.
This is second disqualification incident involving an Indian at the World Championships in less than a month as Neha Sangwan (women's 59kg) was ousted from the U20 Worlds in Samokov, Bulgaria in August after weighing 600gms more than the permissible limit.
Neha was also a part of India's senior World Championship squad in Zagreb but the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) had not only dropped her from the team but also suspended her for two years due to her "consistent weight management issues".
This is, though, first overweight incident involving a star Indian player after Vinesh Phogat was disqualified from the Paris Olympics ahead of the women's 50kg final. She was found overweight by 100g hours before her gold medal bout.
"You know, the government has spent at least 7-8 lakh on each wrestler selected for the World Championship in Zagreb. The stay expense was at least Euro 140 during the two-week training camp and it's Euro 200 during the tournament.
"It is the wrestler's responsibility to maintain weight. There has to be some explanation. Almost 2kg more than the permissible weight is unbelievable," said a coach with the Indian contingent.
It remains to be if seem if WFI hands some punishment to Aman like it did to Neha for a similar transgression or let him off due to his star status.
Aman has competed only in one international tournament since winning bronze in Paris Games. He secured a bronze at Ulaanbaatar Open in June this year, losing to Mexico's Roman Bravo-Young in the semifinals.
He beat Turkiye's Bekir Keser in the bronze play-off.
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Ready to face no-confidence motion, says Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah
Hassan (Karnataka) (PTI): Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Saturday said that the Congress government led by him was ready to face the no-confidence motion if moved by the opposition during the legislature session from December 8.
With Deputy CM D K Shivakumar by his side, he reiterated that they would both abide by the high command's decision on the leadership issue.
"Let them (opposition) bring in a no-confidence motion or adjournment motion or any other motion. We are ready to face it. Ours is an open book, transparent government. We are ready to face anything," Siddaramaiah said in response to a question.
However, BJP state President B Y Vijayendra and Leader of Opposition in the Legislative Assembly R Ashoka, clarified that the party, along with the JD(S) has not discussed or decided anything so far regarding moving a no-confidence motion against the government.
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The winter session of the Karnataka legislature will begin in Belagavi, bordering Maharashtra, on December 8 and will go on till 19th of this month.
Not wanting to react to a question on the leadership issue, the CM said the Congress high command is very strong.
"D K Shivakumar and I will be committed to whatever the high command decides," he said.
Earlier in the day in Bengaluru, Shivakumar accompanied AICC Mallikarjun Kharge till airport from Vidhana Soudha, after paying tributes to B R Ambedkar on his 69th death anniversary, which had led to some speculation about possible discussion between the two on the leadership issue.
The power tussle within the ruling party had intensified amid speculation about a change in chief minister in the state, after the Congress government reached the halfway mark of its five-year term on November 20.
However, both the CM and Deputy CM had recently held breakfast meetings at each others residences, on the instructions of the high command, which is seen as a move to pause the leadership tussle between the two and to signal Siddaramaiah's continuation as the CM for the time being, especially ahead of the Belagavi legislature session.
