Hindustan Times ST (Mumbai) - Live
Knee injury rules Ravi Dahiya out of Asian C’ships
NEW DELHI: Tokyo Olympics silver medallist Ravi Dahiya has suffered a knee injury and will not be able to defend his title at the Asian Wrestling Championships to be held in Astana, Kazakhstan from April 9-14. Dahiya has pulled out of the trials that will take place at the IG Stadium here on Friday. He injured himself during a practice bout at the Chhatrasal Stadium on February 6. Scans revealed grade 2 tears on his right knee in Medial Collateral Ligament (MCL) and Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) .
The relief is it can be treated conservatively. However, in a year of the world championships — scheduled in Serbia from Sept 16 — which will also be the qualifiers for the 2024 Paris Olympics, Dahiya will hope his injury heals in time for him to get match fit.
Dahiya’s physio Munesh Kumar, who is senior sports physiotherapist with Olympic Gold Quest. said: “Usually it takes 6-8 weeks for an MCL injury to heal. The MCL injury is slightly more than the ACL but it is a very important ligament for the stability of the knee, so we have to be very careful in planning his recovery.”
Dahiya was examined by orthopedic Dr Dinshaw Pardiwala initially while Heath Matthews and Kumar are overseeing his rehab in Bengaluru. “He is doing only upper body exercises now and is completely off the mat.
He will go through another round of examination on March 18 and depending on how much the injury has healed we will decide on his comeback. There is a good chance that he will fully recover and come back well in time before the worlds,” Munesh added. Dahiya last competed at the worlds in September where he lost in the first round to Uzbekistan’s Gulomjon Abdullaev in the 57kg. Before that, he won gold at the CWG in Birmingham.
“We had planned to compete in the second-ranking series in Egypt (Feb 23) but had to withdraw. We cannot take any risk because of the world championships and the Asian Games,” said Dahiya’s mentor Arun Kumar. “Once his rehab is done, it will take another threeto-four weeks to come to a competitive level,” Arun added.
Punia, Vinesh skip trials
Bajrang Punia, Vinesh Phogat, Sangeeta Phogat, Sakshi Malik, Jitender and Satyawart Kadian, who had all protested against WFI, have decided against taking part in the trials. However, Anshu Malik and Sonam Malik will compete.
“We did not tell anyone whether to take part in the trials or not. It is their choice. We have said we will not compete unless the matter is resolved,” said Tokyo Olympics bronze medallist Punia.
Meanwhile, the Delhi High Court on Thursday allowed five wrestlers — Anuj Kumar, Chander Mohan, Vijay, Ankit and Sachin Mor — to compete in the trials. The wrestlers had moved court after being left out of the shortlist as per the criteOversight ria set by the Committee. The Committee is running the federation after suspension of the WFI top brass. The trials will see competition in 10 categories.