Narsingh Yadav hopes CBI enquiry will clear his tainted name

Courtesy: PTI

Mumbai: Freestyle wrestler Narsingh Yadav, serving a four-year ban for a dope offence committed prior to the Rio Olympics last year, is fervently hoping the CBI's probe into his charge of sample tampering by his rivals at Sonepat in Haryana leading to the ban comes out in his favour.

"The inquiry in the case is going on and the decision will come, whenever it has to, and I will wait for the outcome. I hope justice prevails for me," Narsingh told reporters here today on the sidelines of the announcement of the Kashaba Jadhav Memorial International Kusti Championship in Delhi on September 15.

"I was close to a medal in Rio and I had beaten the medal winners earlier. I hope justice prevails for me. The CBI inquiry date is not yet out and I am not in touch with the Wrestling Federation (of India)," he explained.

Narsingh, who was preferred over two-time Olympic medalist Sushil Kumar as the country's quota entry for Rio in the 74 kg class after he secured it in Las Vegas in 2015, was thrown out of the Games a day before his opening bout by the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

He was cleared to go to Rio by NADA although he had tested positive for banned substances in the training held in SAI facilities in Sonepat that he maintained were due to spiking of his food by his rivals.

But the move by NADA backfired as its parent body WADA filed a case in the CoA against the decision to allow Narsingh to go to Rio and the CoA slapped a four-year ban to shatter the Mumbai-based 2010 Commonwealth Games champion's Rio Olympic dreams.

Narsingh, a bronze winner in the 2015 world championship in Las Vegas, is still training hard and hoped to take part and do well in the next Olympics in Tokyo in 2020.

"My practice is going on continuously and I want to do well at the Tokyo Olympics," the 28-year-old UP-born grapper declared.

"Khashabha Jadhav is the first individual Olympic medal winner (for India in 1952 at Helsinki) and it is a good thing that a championship is being held in his name," he said about the one-day event in Talkatora Stadium.

Welcoming Sakshi Malik's bronze in women's wrestling at Rio, Narsingh said, "Indian wrestling is going good now and we will get three-four medals in wrestling in Tokyo."

The Jadhav Memorial championship is being organised by the Sangram Singh Foundation.

Sangram Singh, a pro wrestler, is set to lock horns with Kevin Rudford of the United States. Before his bout, four more matches are to be held, including one between female wrestlers, it was announced.

Each bout would be held over six rounds of three minutes each.

The organisers also announced that the first Kushti (wrestling) award felicitation ceremony would be held and awards would be handed over to 10 Indians.

Sangram also announced that a big match is being scheduled in Mumbai in December.

"I will then request Narsingh and other wrestlers to come and participate in the event," he said.

He further announced that a biopic on K D Jadhav is to be made by noted film maker Shyam Benegal.