Wrestling coach Fanel Carp optimistic about Sakshi Malik and Pooja Dhanda's Olympic qualification

The Wrestling Federation of India (WFI)'s foreign coach Fanel Carp believes that Sakshi Malik and Pooja Dhanda will qualify for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.

Both Sakshi and Pooja are yet to qualify for next year’s Olympics. Since her historic bronze in Rio, her career has seen a steady decline. After 2016, Sakshi has featured in a total of 14 tournaments and has won an impressive haul of nine medals. However, it is noteworthy that most of her medals came in smaller meets and not at any world-level tournament. In the last two editions of the World Championships, Sakshi had finished 14th and 12th in her category and her rank, and this time, it was even lower on the 17th.

Determined to see the two athletes qualify, Carp said:

At their (Pooja and Saskhi’s) present performance ,an Olympic medal might appear a distant reality. I can assure you that in three months’ time they will be like sure bets for Olympic medals.

However, the federation's pay disputes with coaches seem to have only aggravated ever since Carp was roped in as the head coach for Sakshi and Pooja. He has apparently left the country a week ago after not receiving any clarity on his payment after working with them for two months, according to reports.

The report also added that Carp was offered a coaching contract in June when he was visiting India and was asked to complete the visa formalities in order to join the team. The Frenchman was with the squad during the training stints in Europe and a few international tournaments. Having been paid salaries for the months of August and September, Carp felt that he should have been paid since June, The Tribune added in a report.

Pooja Dhanda reached the semi-finals at the World Championships and came very close to winning a medal. On the other hand, Sakshi Malik had a tournament she would like to forget. The federation had sacked freestyle coach Hossein Karimi earlier this month.