Nuqra Naqvi

New Delhi, Aug 14 (IANS): National wrestling coach P.R. Sondhi Saturday said woman wrestler Sonika Kaliraman was given an opportunity to prove her mettle and secure selection for the Oct 3-14 Commonwealth Games despite her failing to attend the national camp in Patiala, but she could not make it.

Sonika, daughter of renowned wrestler Chandgi Ram, had moved Delhi High Court questioning the selection procedure for woman grapplers, but her plea was rejected.

Rubbishing all allegations levelled by Sonika against the selection committee, Sondhi said the 26-year-old wrestler did not attend the national camp in February in Patiala and thus she did not qualify for the trials.

Sondhi went on to add that keeping in mind her past record, Sonika was given another chance, pitting her against Babita Kumari and Gursharanpreet Kaur and she could beat neither.

"She needed to defeat them but she failed to do so. And so we didn't select her," Sondhi told IANS from Patiala.

Sondhi said the bouts were witnessed by two project officers from the Sports Authority of India (SAI) and that ruled out any wrongdoing by the federation.

On Sonika's demand for open trials to select the team, Sondhi said it is not practical as that would make the selection procedure unwieldy.

"Sonika demanded open trials, but that is not practicable. It would be impossible to take everyone into consideration. Open trials would mean allowing all and sundry for selection and that is not feasible," said Sondhi.

Sondhi admitted that Sonika had done the country proud in the past but selection rules cannot be changed to suit an individual.