India’s most successful wrestler Sushil Kumar has backed out of the Pro-Wrestling League (PWL) scheduled to begin on Thursday. A source close to Sushil said, “there are no two ways about it, Kumar is out of the league. He will not be participating.”
Last week, Bengaluru Yodhas owner Parth Jindal expressed his grievance about Sushil’s absence via twitter. He said, “I heard @WrestlerSushil has pulled out of the @Official_PWL – is that how scared you are of @BengaluruYodhas Narsingh, man up Sushil – fight”
Purevjevyn Onorbat from Mongolia is set to replace him in the Uttar Pradesh squad. Onorbat recently won a silver medal at the 2015 World Wrestling Championships.
PWL Chairman GS Mander said, “There is no doubt that we might not see him participate at the event. However, there is nothing official yet. Keeping his absence in mind, we have a suitable replacement for him. Onorbat has won silver in 74 kg category and will be tough competition for Narsingh Yadav.”
Incidentally, Yadav had won bronze in the same event at the World Championship.
According to Sushil’s Coach, Satpal Singh shouldn’t be participating in the event due to his current injury. He said, “The tournament will come back again next year, but not the Olympics. The Olympic preparations are more important. It’s good that a wrestling league is happening, but I don’t want Sushil to aggravate his injury. He should be in his prime form for the Rio Games and there is a possibility that he might risk his injury during the league.”
From a logistical point of view, the PWL dates have changed as Mumbai will not be hosting the event on December 21 & 22. The fixtures can be found here.
