‘Why was I alone?’: Varun Sanyal questions support after Asian Games MMA withdrawal

India's Mixed Martial Arts fighter Varun Sanyal on Monday revealed that his blackout during a sauna session at the ongoing Asian Games was probably caused by a "foolish" solo attempt at cutting weight but hinted that he did not do it out of choice.

Sanyal was on Sunday forced to withdraw from the Asian Games MMA competition without competing even once after exhaustion and dehydration caused him to pass out during a sauna session. He was declared medically unfit for the event.

"I came here on two weeks' notice, I found out relatively late. I obviously had a bunch of accommodation issues, and then I was all by myself on a weight cut. In retrospect, that was quite foolish of me to do," Sanyal, son of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Economic Advisory Council member Sanjeev Sanyal, told PTI in an exclusive interview when asked about the incident.

"I had no choice but to do it by myself. That's a question, to be honest, I would like the public to ask, why was I alone? But, you know, things happen, life goes on. I don't want to sit here and feel sorry for myself."

Sanyal, who was to compete in the traditional 77kg, was included in the team on September 2. Suchika Tariyal, who won a bronze in the women's traditional 60kg event, was the other member of the team. The MMA team had come here without any support staff.

"Yeah, absolutely, I am disappointed. I had wanted to participate and show off my skills. I have big aspirations for myself in this sport, and I have backed myself to do well. But yeah, I have moved on.

"I think rather than focusing on what could happen, we focus on what did. And despite all the challenges that the federation has faced over the last year, we came out with a medal, it is huge.

"So, yeah, rather than disappointed, I'm more proud of such a good result."

Talking about his late inclusion in the Asian Games team, he said, "I qualified for Asian Games back in January. But there was a lot of uncertainty surrounding the qualification process. So, I decided to shift focus to my professional career. And I didn't want the slot to go empty.

"There was another athlete who had put his hands up and he qualified, or he went for the qualifications in Uzbekistan back in May.

"However, he didn't rank high enough in Asia. I was fourth ranked in Asia. I was getting ready for a professional fight in the cage. And then, on two weeks' notice, I found out that my name was announced (for Asian Games). So, here I am."

Sanyal had earlier grabbed headlines for his account of the logistical chaos that gripped the Games, because of which several athletes, him included, had to wait for eight to 10 hours without food to get their rooms.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by The Bridge Desk. It is published from a syndicated feed)