A day after Vinesh Phogat was disqualified from women’s wrestling final in the 50 kg category for being ‘overweight’, actor Gulshan Devaiah expressed his grief over the miss but stated that if the athlete is awarded the silver medal, it would be “unfair” for other players who have been disqualified previously on the same grounds.
Sharing a photo of Vinesh, Gulshan wrote on X, “Emotionally I hope an appeal is accepted & Vinesh is awarded the Silver but I also feel it’s unfair on every other athlete who’s been disqualified earlier under the same circumstances.”
“I’m deciding to accept it and move on but it’s not really about how I feel. This must be unimaginable devastating on Vinesh & her team. As a fellow Indian, I say thank you champ!!! Be Well
Vande Mataram,” he added.
Replying to a netizen who asked “when was the last time a player was disqualified like this in the finals?”, Gulshan wrote, “I don’t know. As much as i want her to win, get our appeal accepted, I’d want it to be on fair grounds. I’m no expert on this field or claim to have stats stacked in my inbox. I’m her fellow Indian who’s upset with this situation & also wanting this to be fair because I don’t want anyone questioning her win if the appeal is accepted ( I hope it is & I hope our officials are making a strong case ) More importantly i hope she’s ok with this unfortunate situation. The pressure and disappointment is unimaginable to us.”
As per reports, Vinesh was unable to meet the weight criteria for the 50 kg final on Wednesday as was overweight by 100 grams. Reports also stated that Vinesh had stayed awake all night on Tuesday and had resorted to intensive weight reduction measures but she still missed the mark.
