The Under-17 Indian women wrestling team was on Saturday left stranded at the Queen Alia International Airport in Amman, Jordan after missing a flight back home following a highly successful campaign at the World Championships. The nine women wrestlers and three coaches were scheduled to fly back to India on Saturday evening but they were booked in separate flights. The coaches — Jai Bhagwan, Shilpi Sheoran and Rekha Rani — were scheduled to fly on an Emirates flight with a stopover in Dubai while the young wrestlers were booked in Qatar Airways.
The coaches’ flight (EK904) was to depart at 6:10pm from Amman and reach Dubai at 10:10pm. From there they had a connecting flight at 3:55am and the scheduled arrival was at 9:05 am in Delhi.
The wrestlers’ flight (QR401) was to depart at 8:30pm and reach Doha at 11:10pm but as per the status of the flight, it left at 6:18pm.
However there is no clarity if the flight was rescheduled or not.
“The young women wrestlers have missed the flight. There is a lot of confusion what actually happened. The young wrestlers should not have been booked in a separate flight. SAI should have booked them in the same flight. They are kids,” said a source in the Indian contingent in Amman.
“Ideally at least one of the coaches should have accompanied the young wrestlers. Efforts are now being made to get them on first available flight,” said a source.
Interestingly, coach Jai Bhagwan is father of Mansi Lather, who won the 73kg world title. They train at Mirchpur training centre.
When contacted, a Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) official said efforts are being made to make arrangements to fly the wrestlers back home on the first flight available.
“See, the WFI is suspended. We are not in full control. We never book young wrestlers and coaches in separate flights. Arrangements are now being made for wrestlers’ overnight stay, there is no flight available for Saturday. They will be booked in the first available flight,” said the official, who did not wish to be named.
Riding on an exceptional eight-medal winning performance, the Indian women won its first-ever team title with 185 points ahead of powerhouse Japan (146) and Kazakhstan (79).
Indian women wrestlers won five gold medals, one silver and two bronze after entering nine weight categories.
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