The opening day of the Commonwealth Games trials, attended by, among others, Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) President Brijbhushan Singh Sharan, ended on a stormy note at the KD Jadhav Stadium here on Friday.
The day was progressing smoothly till Sushil, who returned to the international arena after three years with a Commonwealth Championships gold, won all his bouts.
Things took an ugly turn when Rana, after losing to Sushil in the semi-final clash, claimed that the decorated wrestler’s supporters beat him and his elder brother “for daring to take the ring” against him.
Sushil, on the other hand, claimed that he had been bitten by Rana during the bout.”…he bit me but no problem, it might be his tactics to stop me from performing well. All this is a part of sports,” a panting Sushil told reporters after the bouts.
“Whatever happened here was wrong. I condemn it. There was mutual respect after the fight ended,” he added.
Incidentally, the 34-year-old Sushil had beaten Rana in the Commonwealth Championships final.