There was no disgruntled coach to lock him out as shown in the blockbuster hindi film Dangal but Mahavir Phogat still missed watching daughter Babita Phogat's silver-winning effort at the Commonwealth Games on Thursday after he could not lay his hands on tickets to get inside the venue.
The legendary coach, whose life story has achieved cult status owing to the success of Dangal, was here to watch defending gold-medallist Babita compete in the 53kg category. However, he could only wait outside as his daughter grappled inside the Carrara Sports and Leisure Centre here.
"My father came for the first time to watch my bout and I am sad that he has been here since morning but could not get tickets. An athlete is entitled to two tickets but we have not been given those. I tried so much, but he had to sit outside. He couldn't watch it here and he couldn't watch it on TV either," an anguished Babita said, her voice choking.
Mahavir finally managed to make it inside when the Australian wrestling team came to Babita's aid and offered two tickets to her.
"He managed to come inside after I asked the Australian team for a couple of passes. They helped me get him into the arena. I had requested everyone, whether it's the IOA or chef-de-mission, I was requesting till 10 pm yesterday (Wednesday) even though I had bouts today and I had to rest," Babita said.
"It makes you feel bad. I spoke to everyone, including chef-de-mission," he added.
Chef-de-mission Vikram Sisodia said the tickets marked for wrestlers had been given to their coach Rajeev Tomar and it was upto him to distribute.
"We give what we get from Commonwealth Games Federation to respective coaches. We gave five tickets for wrestling, we gave those to Mr Tomar, I don't know why she didn't get a ticket. Maybe the demand was too high," he told PTI.
When asked whether all athletes should be treated at par when it comes to handing out accreditations to their parents, Babita said: "It was the first time my father came this far to see me fight. I feel sad, he kept waiting.
"I don't care if he got accreditation or not, for me it was just a matter of tickets, that's all. At least he could have watched," she added.
"But if one athlete's parent gets accreditation, others should also get, why should just one athlete get that."
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