Merely a week before she was to participate at the Junior Asian Wrestling Championships in Manila, promising player Divya Sain was ruled out of the tournament after she was allegedly injured by a rival during a practice session. Sain, 67 kg, had won bronze in the previous edition of the Asian Juniors in Myanmar.
"I had suffered a slight ligament strain on my left knew. I had been told by a doctor that it would heal on its own but I had been advised not to wrestle for some time. But because the Asian Championships were about to start, coach Kripa Shankar Bishnoi asked me to practice some techniques," Sain said. She alleged that her opponent Suman first gave her the advantage position to let her practice her holds. However, when it was Suman's turn to take the advantage position, she grabbed Divya's leg and sharply twisted the injured joint. "I screamed because my knee swelled up almost immediately. I still can't put any weight on it. I am really upset because I had been training really hard to well in Philippines," said the 17 year old.
Divya will undergo medical tests on Friday to determine the extent of her injury. Sain’s injury leaves the WFI in a soup. "We had already got the visa for Divya. It is disappointing because we were expecting a gold medal in her category," says Vinod Tomar, assistant secretary of the Wrestling Federation of India. "Now that it is impossible for Divya to compete at the Asian Championships, we will have to determine who to send for the tournament in her place." The matter just get worse with the fact that Suman, a prospective replacement for Divya, could possibly be sanctioned for her role in the injury.
