New Delhi: The partnership that brought India two successive Olympic medals, ended after the Wresting Federation of India, apparently at Satpal Singh's insistence, omitted Sushil Kumar's coach, Yashvir Singh, from the national camp. Yashvir, who is employed with the Delhi state government's education department as a physical teacher, has been transferred from Chhatrasal akhara to head the centre at Bawana and if inside sources are to be believed, the decision to remove him came after Satpal showed reluctance in relieving him for the camp.
Interestingly, the sports wing of Delhi government's education department is headed by Satpal. "Satpal didn't want him to be a part of the national camp. It was due to his reluctant approach that the selection committee had to omit his name," a WFI source told PTI. "Even if the selection committee would have considered his name there was every chance that Satpal might not have spared him for the camp. Satpal wanted Virender Kumar to be in the camp, however, the consensus has not been formed over his name till now," he added.
The bitter-sweet relationship between the 1982 Asian Games gold medallist wrestler Satpal and Yashvir, who works under the former at the Chhatrasal akhara, goes back a long way, though, both deny any rift. "Yashvir is still a part of the team. We have entrusted him with the responsibility of our young batch of wrestlers. He has been a part of our system and will continue to do so. Our aim is to double the number of awards won by our wrestlers at the London Games during the next Olympics in Rio and we are committed to our goal," Satpal said.
Asked about his role in Yashvir's removal from the camp, Satpal refuted the claims as baseless. "If that was the case why would have I pursued his name for the Drona early this year. "The coaches in the national camp are selected for a tenure of four years and the discretion to change the coaches rests with the federation. I am totally unaware of the development," he said. Asked whether the WFI selection committee has picked any coach from the Chhatrasal akhara headed by him, Satpal said nothing on that regard has been intimated to him so far.
Meanwhile, Yashvir who won the the FILA International Coach of the year award in December 2010 for Sushil Kumar's superlative effort in the World Championship that year, said he has not received any intimation from the federation in this regard. "I am not aware of the development. Nothing has been intimated to me by the federation in this regard. I have been transfered to Bawana and I am bound by the decision of my department," Yashvir said. The WFI, on the other hand, insisted that it has nothing personal against Yashvir and the decision to appoint coaches for the national camp solely rests with its selection committee.
"We have got nothing personal against him. Yashvir has been of great value to the sport over the years. The discretion to appoint coaches for the camp rests solely with the selection committee and they don't work under anyone's influence," WFI secretary general Raj Singh said. However, against the general practice the WFI did not consult government observer Naresh Kumar while finalising the name of the coaches for the camp. Apart from the President and Secretary General, chief coach and foreign expert have a role to play in the selection of coaches in consultation with the government observer. "I was not informed about the meeting," Naresh Kumar said when asked about Yashvir's omission from the camp.
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