Indian wrestlers trained with teenaged wrestlers from Stiring-Wendel club, located in a border town 350km away from Paris. Indian wrestlers trained with teenaged wrestlers from Stiring-Wendel club, located in a border town 350km away from Paris.

For a fortnight before the World Championships, Indian wrestlers trained at a secluded location on the France-Germany border. But it was hardly rigorous. Instead, they grappled with 14, 15 year-old French wrestlers who were the trainees of a local wrestling club in the border town of Lorraine.

It summed up India’s woeful preparation, resulting in none of the 24 wrestlers crossing the quarterfinal stage of the world championships, which concluded in Paris last week. Brijbhushan Saran Singh, the president of Wrestling Federation of India (WFI), pinned the blame on the French federation and organisers for India’s dismal show.

Singh claimed the organisers did not provide any training facilities. Neither did they arrange for training partners. But a cursory glance at India’s preparations reveal a different story. So shoddy was WFI’s planning that two-time Olympic medallist Sushil Kumar compared it to preparation for a state tournament. “If you think that by sparring with juniors you will beat senior wrestlers, then it won’t happen. World championship is not a state tournament. We have to train for it with that intensity and seriousness,” the 2010 World Championship gold medallist told The Indian Express.

France wasn’t India’s first option as India headed into the home stretch of their preparations. Instead, they were scheduled to take part in the Spanish Grand Prix, which was held in July. The team was to leave for the tournament on July 13 but applied for visa just three days prior to their departure. Not surprisingly, the visas did not arrive in time, which forced India to withdraw.

This time, the federation blamed ‘a couple of wrestlers’ for not providing their tax returns in time, which resulted in the delay. It was a crucial tournament, which also offered Indians the chance to spar with wrestlers from other countries, including Russia, Iran and USA.

The panic-stricken federation hastily decided to send the wrestlers to Paris 17 days before the world championship began. “All the participating nations will be there, so we will ensure our wrestlers get some good practice before the tournament,” WFI’s assistant secretary Vinod Tomar had said before the team’s departure.

However, upon reaching Paris, the Indian coaches found out that no other nation was there. Stranded, the federation put out a SOS signal to Damien Jacomelli, a French wrestling coach who is now privately involved with a few Indian grapplers. Jacomelli used his local contacts and ultimately, the team made a 350km journey to Lorraine, a tiny town bordering Germany where they trained at the Stiring-Wendel wrestling club.

The arrival of a 37-strong Indian contingent dominated the local news but the stint was hardly helpful for the Indian wrestlers. On most days, they sparred among themselves while at times, they grappled with teenaged French wrestlers who trained at the club. A WFI official said Indians did that out of ‘generosity’ and to teach the French youngsters a few tricks. “But it wasn’t an ideal scenario so close to the championship,” the official said.

Sushil, who was in Paris as the government observer, said the team should have returned to India instead. “Every country reaches the (host) city 2-3 days before the event. When we go somewhere, we need to check if the facilities at the training centre are of the world standards. When I was there, I got to know the team was uncomfortable. They (the WFI) should’ve taken some action immediately and should’ve returned to India to continue training,” he said.

Sushil said he recommended to the sports ministry that Mestvirishvili be re-appointed. Sushil said he recommended to the sports ministry that Mestvirishvili be re-appointed.

Parting ways with foreign coach

This isn’t the first time India ended up training with junior wrestlers. The team had to face similar problems even before the Rio Olympics, where they trained with Bulgarian juniors. But poor planning is just one of the problems. After the Rio Olympics last year, the WFI parted ways with foreign coach Vladimer Mestvirishvili.

In a meeting with the sports ministry after the Games, the federation said Mestvirishvili had ‘outlived his usefulness’ and had to be replaced. They have been in touch with Japanese and Iranian federations but even after a year, the WFI is yet to identify his successor.

Sushil said he recommended to the sports ministry that Mestvirishvili be re-appointed. “He has been here since 2003 and only after that the medals have started coming. He understands Indian wrestlers and culture as well. Ultimately, though, it is up to the federation to get a coach as per their requirements. But it is very clear now that the team needs a foreign expert,” said Sushil, who hired Mestvirishvili as the chief coach of his academy in Delhi.

The strength and stamina of most Indian wrestlers were not viewed as an issue even though they lost one after the other. Instead, their technical deficiencies were glaring. “Our wrestlers, though good, aren’t technically sound. Our counter-attacks were less and the opponents were getting points only on counters. These are the small things that we need to focus on. It is the chief coach’s job to improve the technique,” Sushil said.

He submitted his report to the sports ministry in which he has highlighted two key aspects. Foreign coach is the most critical, he says. The second is regular competitions. “If we keep on training in camps and do not take part in competitions, then we will never be able to do well in big tournaments. We need to compete more,” he said.

“It’s not a doomsday scenario. There are a few shortcomings which we need to address. But we need to give our wrestlers more experience and better coaching.”

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