Hyderabad: Former Indian star shuttler Saina Nehwal has reacted upon the disqualification of the Indian wrestler Vinesh Phogat saying that the wrestler should step up and take the blame for her mistake. The Indian wrestler was disqualified from the Paris 2024 Olympics on Wednesday and it has triggered a lot of discussion around the topic on social media.
Vinesh was within the permissible limit of 50kg till the semi-final and was looking strong with a silver assured on her name. However, she was found overweight by 100 grams and that led to her disqualification from the competition. Vinesh has filed an appeal against the decision at the Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS) and has demanded for a silver medal.
Saina has responded to the development saying Vinesh should take the blame for her mistake.
“Generally, such type of mistakes don't happen to any athlete at this level. How did this happen is a question mark. Because she has a big team. She has so many coaches, physios, trainers. They all must be feeling so bad. I am not sure about the rules and regulations of wrestling. As an athlete, I am feeling bad," Nehwal told NDTV.
“It is not like she is playing her first Olympics, it's her third Olympics. As an athlete, she must know the rules. If there has been a mistake, I don't know how it happened. At such a big stage, I have not heard any such thing about any other wrestler, that they have been disqualified due to being overweight. She is an experienced athlete. Somewhere there has been a mistake on Vinesh's part too. She should take the blame too. Before such a big match, such a mistake is not right," Nehwal added.
India have won three bronze medals so far in the ongoing edition and Vinesh has assured a silver for the country. However, the unfortunate incident put an end to her campaign and the wrestler also announced retirement from the sport on Thursday.
