‘Blatant lie’: Yogeshwar Dutt on Punia's 'losing matches on purpose' claim

Bajrang Puniarsquos claim that lsquoI asked him to concede wrestling bouts on purposersquo is nothing but a ldquoblatant lierdquo 2012 London Olympics bronze medallist Yogeshwar Dutt said on Sunday as the mudslinging match between the top wrestlers of the country continuedBajrang in a live social media address had claimed on Saturday that the London Olympics bronze medallist several times asked him to lose matches on purpose in the pastldquoI never told him to lose any match Itrsquos a blatant lierdquo Yogeshwar told PTI when asked about Bajrangrsquos claimHeadtohead battlesldquoDuring the 2016 Olympic qualification he was part of the 65kg trials but we were not pitted against each other Amit Dhankar had defeated him In the final bout I fought against Amitrdquo he saidldquoIn the Pro Wrestling League we fought against each other There I won 30 If I wanted I could have scored more and everybody knows that it was a show fightrdquoDutt who is now a BJP leader said he always took Bajrang on foreign training trips as his sparring partnerAlso Read Yogeshwar Dutt criticises exemption given to six protesting wrestlers by IOA adhoc panelldquoBefore 2016 Olympics whenever I went abroad I took Bajrang along with me Despite all this he has betrayed me I donrsquot know why is he accusing me and tarnishing my imagerdquoYogeshwar feels that Bajrang is just trying to settle scores against him by levelling such false allegations after they decided to split in 2018ldquoIn 2018 Bajrang told me that lsquolet me go to Commonwealth Games and you go to Asian Gamesrsquo but I told him I will go through the trials After that he got angry with me and we stopped talking to each otherrdquo he claimedldquoAfter 2016 Rio Olympics I never participated in any tournament I never attended any camp In camps there are many wrestlers in one weight category Anybody can beat anyoneldquoBut I was never in the reckoning I left wrestling anyone could have beaten me easily I left competitive wrestling in 2018 I am now a former wrestlerrdquoBajrang had claimed that in a final match in Italy Dutt told him to concede the final ldquoYou told me that I am first and you are second You did not think of your junior player that if he wins it will benefit himrdquo Bajrang said However Dutt did not accept that he did something like that ldquoIn our religion lsquogau matarsquo mother cow is considered holy and I can swear on gau mata that I never asked Bajrang to concede a matchrdquo said DuttBajrangrsquos accusations came after Dutt questioned the exemption from Asian Games and World Championship trials was handed to six protesting wrestlers by the IOA adhoc panelVinesh posts letterMeanwhile Vinesh Phogat on Sunday posted an undated letter on social media to prove that the six protesting wrestlers did not demand exemption from Asian Games trials and they sought only time till August for preparation Vinesh shared a picture of the letter which mentions six wrestlers including herself for some extra time for training ahead of the trials The six protesting wrestlers were handed onebout trials by the IOA adhoc panel a move that was criticised by several established and upcoming wrestlers as they demanded fair trials for everyoneThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever