NEW DELHI: Antim Panghal , one of the Indian wrestling’s brightest medal hopes, has been left grappling with a different off-the-mat battle ahead of her much-awaited debut Olympic bout at the Paris Games on Wednesday. Antim, a two-time junior world champion and World Championships medallist, is unable to secure daily passes for her personal coach and other support staff members to enter the athletes’ village and guide her in last-minute preparations for the Games. Antim will begin her Paris campaign with a Round-of-16 clash in the women’s 53kg division which features heavyweights Japan’s Akari Fujinami, China’s Pang Qianyu, USA’s Dominique Parrish, Ecuador’s Lucía Yépez, Greece’s Maria Prevolaraki, Romania’s Andreea Ana and Sweden’s Jonna Malmgren.
It’s been learnt that Antim’s teammates and other medal hopefuls – Anshu Malik (57kg) and Reetika Hooda (76kg) – too are facing a similar problem in securing village access for their respective support staff to visit the village. Among the six Indian participating wrestlers, only Vinesh Phogat has access to her Hungarian coach Woller Akos and physio Ashwini Patil inside the village. The coach and physio are part of the official Indian contingent and have full access accreditation cards.
The coaches and support staff of other wrestlers haven’t been offered such luxury by the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) and all of them are staying in different hotels outside the village. To visit their athletes,.