Young Indian women wrestlers stranded on Amman airport after missing flight

The Indian women wrestlers participating in the U17 World Championships were left stranded at the Queen Alia International Airport in Amman, Jordan after missing the flight back on Saturday night.

Following the best campaign at the U17 World Championships, the team of nine wrestlers and three coaches was scheduled to return home on Saturday evening.

However, they were booked in separate flights with coaches Jai Bhagwan, Shilpi Sheoran, and Rekha Rani were flying via Emirates while the young wrestlers were scheduled to take the Qatar Airways.

While the coaches boarded their flights, the Qatar Airways flight booked for the Indian wrestlers left two hours before the scheduled time.

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 about what actually happened. The young wrestlers should not have been booked in a separate flight," one of the Indian contingent sources told PTI.

When The Bridge contacted the Wrestling Federation of India, one of the officials claimed that efforts are being made to bring the wrestlers back to home.

"Ideally at least one coach should have accompanied the young wrestlers. We never book young wrestlers without coaches," the offical told The Bridge on the condition of anonymity.

"As it looks like they will have to stay for sometime and we will book the first available flight for them," the official added further.

Indian women's team dished out exceptional performance at the U17 Wrestling world championships winning their 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.