Are Olympic dreams over for wrestler Rahul Aware?

Getting picked and dropped from a national side is part and parcel of an athlete’s career. But there are occasions when players feel that they have been meted out a raw deal when the selectors wield the axe on them.

Sample the case of India’s freestyle wrestler Rahul Aware, who opted out of the country’s month-long training camp in Georgia ahead of the penultimate Olympic qualifying tournament in Mongolia later this month.

Aware, who grapples in the 57 kg category, was apparently livid when he came to know that the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) had processed the visa for fellow team-mate Sandeep Tomar in the same weight category for the Olympic qualifying tournament in Mongolia. The Maharastra wrestler was not keen to travel to Georgia after he learnt that he was not picked for the Mongolia Olympic qualifiers that will be held later this month.

One felt that Rahul should have exercised restraint as there was one more Olympic qualifying event happening in Turkey in May. Clearly, the Wrestling Federation of India, it is learnt, has not taken kindly to the latest gesture of Aware. Insiders say the selectors and coaches felt that Sandeep Tomar should be given an opportunity after Aware failed to bag an Olympic quota in the Astana Olympic qualifiers.

Aware, on his part, did not do badly in the Astana Olympic qualifiers, bagging a bronze medal after losing the semifinals of the 57 kg category – a category where the gold and silver medal winners sealed their Olympic berths.

It may be recalled that Amit Kumar Dahiya used to be India’s best bet in the 57 kg category not long ago- he even played in the 2012 London Olympics. Aware had defeated both Amit Kumar Dahiya and Sandeep Tomar in the selection trials held prior to the Astana Olympic qualifiers. Sandeep won the Asian Championship gold in February.

For now, the Olympics look over for Aware unless he tenders an apology over his conduct and is given a lifeline at the Turkey Olympic Qualifiers. India have won three quotas so far, with Narsingh Yadav (74kg) and Yogeshwar Dutt (65kg) securing berths in the freestyle category while Hardeep Singh earned a place in the 98kg Greco-Roman category.