Wrestler Shivani Pawar Misses Paris Olympics Due to Cancelled Trials

Indore (Madhya Pradesh) [India], August 10: Shivani Pawar, a 25-year-old wrestler from Chhindwara district in Madhya Pradesh, expressed her disappointment over the cancellation of her trials for the Paris Olympics. She believes that if the trials had taken place, she would have had a chance to compete in the games.

Shivani shared, “I had a dream to go to the Paris Olympics for a long time and I was preparing for it for the last four years. But due to the change in rules, our trials could not take place.” The Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) and Indian Olympic Association (IOA) had initially promised trials for those who were runners-up or had issues with points in the qualification trials. However, the trials were cancelled just two days before they were scheduled.

Shivani also recalled a close bout with wrestler Vinesh Phogat, where she felt the referee’s wrong decisions led to her loss. “Vinesh and I had a very close bout, I was leading in that too but due to wrong points and wrong decision of the referee, our bout went a little wrong and Vinesh was declared the winner at the end,” she said.

According to Shivani, Vinesh Phogat was allowed to compete in both the 50 kg and 53 kg categories, which was against the rules. Despite complaints to the IOA and the federation, no action was taken.

Shivani started wrestling in 2014 and has won numerous medals, including being a four-time national champion and winning gold medals twice in the national games. She also has a silver medal in the Under 23 World Wrestling Championship and a bronze medal at the Senior Asian Championship 2024.

Looking ahead, Shivani is preparing for the World Wrestling Championship 2025, the 2026 Asian Games, and the Las Vegas Olympics 2028. She also mentioned that her younger sister, Sonu Pawar, is training in wrestling and is expected to perform well in the future.