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New Delhi: Paris Olympics medallist Aman Sehrawat was barred from the World Wrestling Championships in Zagreb on Sunday for failing to make weight.
The Paris Games bronze medal winner was overweight by 1.7kg during the weigh-in before 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 told PTI.
Though a two-kg weight tolerance is allowed for World Cup, United World Wrestling Ranking Series Tournaments and for the international tournaments, it is not permitted in World Championships and Olympics, as per regulations.
Sehrawat failed to reach the desired weight despite reaching Zagreb, Croatia, on August 25 to acclimatise and training for around 20 days.
The 22-year-old's disqualification is a huge blow for India as he was considered one of the potential medal contenders. He is the second Indian wrestler to be disqualified at the World Championships in under a month after Neha Sangwan (women's 59kg).
Last monthe, Sangwan was debarred from the U-20 Worlds in Samokov, Bulgaria, for being 600gms over the permissible limit.
Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) dropped her from senior World Championship squad while also handing a two-year suspension due to "consistent weight management issues".
India suffered from weight management issue at Paris 2024 when Vinesh Phogat was disqualified from the women's 50kg gold medal bout for being 100g over the mermissible limit.
"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," an Indian coach told PTI.
"It is the wrestler's responsibility to maintain weight. There has to be some explanation. Almost 2kg more than the permissible weight is unbelievable."
Since his bronze-medal show at Paris, Sherawat has competed in one international tournament, finishing third at Ulaanbaatar Open in June this year.
Mukul Dahiya (86kg) remains in hunt for bronze after winning his repechage round and will face Iran's Kamran Ghasempour.
Deepak, World championship medallist in 2019, lost 3-4 to Azerbaijan's Osman Nurmagomedov in the 92kg weight category after winning his first bout 6-1 against Austria's Benjamin Geril.
Vikash Singh (74kg) and Amit (79kg) were beaten in their opening rounds.
Sujit Kalkal (65kg) and Vicky (97kg) will open their campaigns on Monday along with women wrestlers Nishu (55kg) and Sarika (59kg). PTI AT AT APA APA APA
