The upheavals in wrestling in the last two years have “severely affected” the growth of the sport in India, feels Olympic medallist grappler Yogeshwar Dutt, though he is still optimistic that the six-member Indian squad can win two medals at the Paris Games beginning on July 26.

Sustained protests by six of the country’s top grapplers, including Olympic medallists Sakshi Malik and Bajrang Punia and Asian Games gold medallist Vinesh Phogat, against former Wrestling Federation of India chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh led to wrestling activities in India coming to a grinding halt for close to a year-and-a-half. Dutt refused to comment on Vinesh’s prospects at the Games. The 2018 Jakarta Asian Games gold medallist was at the forefront of the protest against Brij Bhushan over his alleged sexual harassment of female grapplers.