WFI drops Neha from World Championship squad, hands 2-year suspension for weight management issue

New Delhi: Wrestler Neha Sangwan, who was disqualified from the recent U20 World Championships for being overweight, was on Monday dropped from the senior World Championships squad and suspended for two years by the national federation for her "consistent weight management issues".

Neha, who hails from Charkhi Dadri in Haryana, was to compete in women's 59kg class in Samokov, Bulgaria last week but weighed about 600 grams more than the permissible limit.

The organisers disqualified her and India went unrepresented in that weight category due to the transgression.

India's women team won seven medals to finish runner-up behind Japan. Neha, without doubt, was a strong medal contender and could have helped India win the team championship by winning a gold.

India finished with 140 points behind Japan's 165.

The Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) has replaced Neha with Sarika Malik, who had finished second in the World Championship trials in 59kg competition.

The Worlds are scheduled to be held in Zagreb Croatia from September 13-21.

"This is not acceptable. Weight management is something that a wrestler has to take care of. We missed out on a medal in that weight category in Bulgaria. We also have accountability because the government funds the tournament expenses and around Rs 2-3 lakh is spent on one wrestler. If you can't manage the weight, we will give the chance to the next best wrestler," said a WFI official.

Neha has been growing into a good wrestler and her transition from junior to senior has also been very encouraging.

She had won a bronze medal at the 2024 U20 World Championship and this year has already won three medals at the senior level in 57kg weight class.

She won the UWW Ranking Series Mongolia Open in 57kg in May and also finished on top in Yasar Dagu in June. Last month, she won a silver at the Ranking Series event in Budapest.

"In Ranking series events, all wrestlers get a 2 kg weight tolerance as per the UWW rules, so she was not troubled in these events but she is consistently struggling with weight management.

"Even during the U20 World Championship in Spain last year, she was really struggling to maintain right weight on the scale. A wrestler at this level knows what he or she is expected to do, so weight management is a wrestler's responsibility. If you can't do that, you can't play," said the official.

Asked if the punishment was not harsh for a promising wrestler like Neha, the WFI said, "We are not doing it for joy. She certainly is a good wrestler but if you are not going to compete, what's point of all the hard work."