World Wrestling C’ship: Aman Sehrawat disqualified for being overweight

Paris Olympic bronze medalist Aman Sehrawat was disqualified as India went unrepresented in the freestyle 57kg category at the World Wrestling Championships in Zagreb, Croatia, on Sunday.

The 22-year-old wrestler from Haryana was reportedly unwell and failed to make weight. He was disqualified by the organisers for being 1,700 grams overweight during the weigh-in process.

He was scheduled to compete against Vladimir Erogov of North Macedonia in the 57kg freestyle category, but was found to be overweight.

Aman is the third Indian wrestler who failed to cut weight ahead of a big-ticket tournament. Earlier, Vinesh Phogat was disqualified at the Paris Olympics for being 100 gms overweight before the final.

Last month, Neha Sangwan received a two-year ban from the Wrestling Federation of India for mismanagement of weight on multiple occasions, including the U20 World Championships in Bulgaria, where the young wrestler was found overweight by 600 g.

“It is unacceptable to be overweight by 1700 grams. It’s too early to say what action will be taken. We will first investigate the matter,” a WFI official told The Bridge on Sunday.

“The team had reached Zagreb for an acclimatisation camp much earlier. If there were any health issues, they should have been communicated to us. Also, if a wrestler is unwell, he/she shouldn't be 1700 overweight just one day before his/her bout,” the official said. 

The Indian wrestling contingent had reached Zagreb on August 25. Aman was a strong medal contender. In his absence, all the eyes will be on Olympian Deepak Punia, who will begin his campaign against Benjamin Geril of Austria.