Indian veteran boxer Sarita Devi has accused that her bout in the Olympic qualifier trial that was held on Saturday was fixed. In the same event, six-time world champion MC Mary Kom had confirmed her place by at the Olympic qualifiers to be held in Wuhan, China by defeating Nikhat Zareen, while, Sarita was knocked out in the final by Simranjeet.
The Arjuna awardee boxer Sarita Devi has expressed her displeasure by writing a letter to the Boxing Federation of India (BFI). In the letter addressed to Ajay Singh, President of BFI, Sarita has alleged that the trial against Simranjit Kaur in the 60 kg weight category was unfair. Sarita Devi had to face defeat against Simranjeet in the 60 kg category. In this match, Sarita lost by 8 points against 2 against her challenger in a split decision. She has alleged that Indian boxing federation executive director RK Sacheti, foreign coaches Rafael and Chhotalal Yadav have always been against her and are the ones who have fixed the bout.
Sarita Devi’s letter read, “I’m telling you again, it was a fixed bout. Premeditated bout. I’m telling more clearly that our BFI Executive Director RK Sacheti, Foreign coach Raffael and Chhote Lal Yadav are the people who have always ganged up against me and they are the ones who have fixed the bout today.“
“I have been bearing all these injustices for a long time but the time has come for me to speak up of injustices being done to me and others,“ the letter further added.
It is to be noted that this is not the first time that the Olympic qualifier trials have come under the scanner. Before the Olympic qualifiers trials, a lot of controversy and drama was created after Nikhat Zareen had openly demanded a fair selection trial against six-time world champion Mary Kom. Even after the final bout ended with Mary Kom emerging as victorious reports of displeasure among the Telengana Boxing Officials started to emerge soon after.
