Vinesh Phogat’s fears have come true. Amid an ongoing bitter standoff with the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI), the decorated wrestler’s comeback bid suffered a crushing blow on Wednesday when the federation dashed her hopes of competing at the Asian Games. WFI stated that next week’s National Open Ranking tournament, where Phogat will compete for the first time in nearly 20 months, is not an eligible event for Asian Games selection.
The National Open Ranking Tournament 2026 is scheduled from May 10 to 12 in Gonda, Uttar Pradesh, and Phogat was eyeing her comeback to professional wrestling through the competition. It will mark her return to the mat for the first time since the Paris Olympics 2024, where she missed out on a medal after being disqualified for being 100 grams overweight. Phogat had initially announced her retirement after the heartbreak, only to reverse the decision in December with an eye on the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.
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The tournament will also be her first appearance in the 57kg category, marking her fifth weight-class shift, and was seen as a crucial step towards qualification for the 2026 Asian Games in Japan.
However, a circular released by the WFI crushed those hopes. The governing body announced that only medallists from the 2025 National Championships, held in December, and last February’s Federation Cup would be eligible to compete in the selection trials, scheduled for May 30 in New Delhi for women and a day later in Lucknow for men.
Phogat, who was on maternity leave last year, did not compete in either tournament, making the announcement a major setback for the 2018 Asian Games gold medallist.
The development came amid an increasingly bitter standoff between Phogat and the WFI. The wrestler had initially claimed that the federation tried to prevent her from registering for the ranking tournament in Gonda, alleging they did not want her at the Asian Games — a charge the WFI denied.
She later questioned the decision to host the tournament in Gonda, considered the stronghold of former WFI president Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, and expressed concerns over possible “biased officiating” during the event.
“If any untoward incident happens to me, my team or supporters during the competition, the Indian government will be responsible,” she had said in a video message posted on social media on May 3.
“The tournament is being organised at a place where his (Brij Bhushan’s) influence is strong. Who will officiate which bout, how many points will be awarded, who will sit as mat chairman — everything can be controlled by him and his people.”
