Now, Cheema cries foul

Even as top sports officials were trying to work out a formula to keep Olympic gold winner Abhinav Bindra in good humour, the fear of more sportsmen taking a cue from the ace marksman looks very real.

One of India’s best wrestlers — and a rare one doing well internationally in the heavyweight category —  has threatened to retire prematurely.

Palwinder Singh Cheema, a bronze medallist at the Busan Asian Games eight years ago and winner of several medals in various Asian and Commonwealth meets over the past decade, says he has been sidelined on the basis of just one national championship.

“I have been told that only the top four in the national championship have been picked in the core group but an exception has been made for Sushil Kumar because he won a bronze in Beijing Olympics. My performances have been as consistent as any and I am also willing to give any special trial. I am being targetted needlessly and it is an insult to not even be considered among the core group,” said Cheema, a former world junior champion.

“What else will I do if I don’t figure in the federation’s scheme of things? I will continue fighting in other unrecognised and organisational meets and have no option but to quit from the mainstream. If someone like Bindra can be treated in such a shabby manner, who am I?,” said Cheema.

However, federation officials said Cheema had been dropped purely on the basis of form and was only trying to gain mileage by mentioning Bindra’s name.

“He skipped the last nationals, did not appear for the trials for the 2008 Olympics and failed to finish among the top four in this year’s nationals. As far as we are concerned, we have seen his form dip and will consider him only on the basis of past performances,” said Kartar Singh, secretary-general of the Wrestling Federation of India.

“I even took the initiative of inviting him for the Bhagat Singh meet in Punjab. But he failed to turn up,” said Kartar.

Meanwhile, Abhinav’s father AS Bindra, who was expected to meet shooting federation officials to sort out their differences, deferred his trip till Wednesday. The compromise formula being worked out is that the shooter will be picked for one World Cup but will have to appear for trials for CWG later this year.