‘You cannot judge me by one failure’, says Sakshi Malik after being dropped from TOPS

Olympic medallist Sakshi Malik has hit back after being excluded from the Sports Authority of India’s (SAI) Target Olympic Podium Scheme (TOPS). She revealed that she felt ‘low & utterly disappointed’ at being ‘dropped’ just because of ‘one failure’.

The star grappler told Republic World that she is still striving to qualify for the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games and with just nine months left to the gala event, the timing of her exclusion from TOPS could not have been worse. She said:

I have won a medal for the country in the last Olympics. I am 27 not so old... and I am striving to qualify for the Tokyo Olympics which is just 9 months away. And you drop me from TOP Scheme. I am really disappointed and feel dejected. You cannot judge me by my one failure in the World Championship.

Satyawart Kadiyan, her husband who had also won the silver medal at the 2014 CWG, said that he felt "gross injustice" has been meted out to Sakshi. He urged the decision-makers (SAI’s Mission Olympic Cell) to show some faith in Sakshi as he believes that she can win another Olympics medal.

Earlier last week, the Rio Olympic bronze medallist was dropped from TOPS after she crashed out in the opening round of the recently concluded Wrestling World Championships in Nur-Sultan. At the same meet, Indian grapplers bagged five medals (four bronze, one silver) — the country’s biggest haul at a World Championships.

Also read: Two sides of a coin — How Rio Olympics has not defined the paths of Vinesh Phogat & Sakshi Malik

While Sakshi might argue that it was just ‘one failure’ the truth is that she has been struggling longer than she would like to admit. Since her historic bronze in Rio, her career has seen a steady decline.

After Rio, Sakshi has featured in 14 tournaments and has won nine medals, an impressive haul. However, it must be noted, 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, this time, it was even lower at 17th.