Referees can't bear to see India succeed in Wushu, says coach Handoo

India's wushu chief coach Kuldeep Kumar Handoo (right) and coach Rajvir Singh in Jakarta yesterday. Pic/Ashwin Ferro

India's Wushu exponents bagged an impressive four bronze medals here yesterday, but were still a tad disappointed as they felt that the colour of their medals should have been better. Naorem Roshibini Devi, Santosh Kumar, Surya Bhanu Partap Singh and Narender Grewal all lost their semi-finals in the Sanda event either to a Chinese or an Iranian opponent.

India's chief coach Kuldeep Kumar Handoo told mid-day that the refereeing was not in favour of his team. "We have been doing well in Wushu in the recent past but somehow the referees cannot bear to see our successes. Or maybe they cannot believe that we have improved to such an extent that we are now capable of beating the Chinese and the Iranians, who have traditionally dominated the sport," Handoo said immediately after the four consecutive defeats in the semi-finals yesterday.

India's Naorem Roshibini Devi (left), Santosh Kumar, Surya Bhanu Partap Singh and Narender Grewal won bronze in wushu

Coach Rajvir Singh added: "Roshibini was brilliant in her match and should have got more points, but somehow she was ignored and her Chinese opponent was unfairly handed points. Then, Narender Grewal got a kick on his face for which his Iranian opponent should have been docked points, but even that didn't happen."

Both coaches were confident that India will emerge as an Asian powerhouse in Wushu in the near future. "We are already beating the Chinese and Iranians on and off, and they are quite wary of us. Very soon we will start beating them more regularly and start excelling in the sport," Handoo signed off.

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