NEW DELHI: Olympic medallist Sakshi Malik, one of the leading faces of the agitation against former Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) president Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, on Thursday claimed that she never demanded exemption from selection trials for the Asian Games. Fellow protestors Bajrang Punia and Vinesh Phogat have been exempted from trials by the Indian Olympic Association’s ad-hoc panel.
In a video message from her current training base in the USA's Michigan, Sakshi said that she refused the ad-hoc committee’s offer for exemption because of her being an Olympic bronze winner. “As you all know, we had requested the government for additional time for preparing for the Asian Games. We had requested them to hold our trials after August 10, and the government gave us time as well, following which we came out here for training. But, over the last 3-4 days, it has emerged that direct entries are being sent for two weight categories,” Sakshi said.
