India’s most successful wrestler, Sushil Kumar has qualified for 2018 Commonwealth Games. Two-time Olympic medal-winning grappler had an intense time at the selection trial before defeating Jitender Kumar in the 74kg weight category. The 34-year-old who had been out of action since 2014 Commonwealth Games made his comeback previous year. However, Sushil’s victory at the selection trial venue, Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium was marred by an ugly brawl involving fellow wrestler, Parveen Rana.

The celebrated Indian wrestler who has won golds in previous two Commonwealth Games, 2010 and 2014 is eyeing a hattrick in the upcoming edition. Sushil Kumar is one step closer after he successfully earned his place in the Indian wrestling team for the 21st Commonwealth Games. But it was not an easy route. His qualification rounds at the selection trials were marred after supporters of Sushil Kumar and Parveen Rana got into a fistfight. Praveen’s elder brother Naveen was assaulted and allegedly hit by a plastic chair.

Parveen after losing his semi-final bout, 3-7 to Sushil Kumar accused the star grappler and his supporters of beating him and his brother "for daring to take the ring" against him. Naveen alleged that they had also tried to prevent Parveen from taking part in the Pro Wrestling League, to be held in January.

On the other hand, Sushil also narrated his side of the story saying how Parveen bit him during the match. He was quoted saying after the bout, "...He bit me but no problem, it might be his tactics to stop me from performing well. All this is a part of sports." Nevertheless, the champion wrestler condemned the attack on Parveen’s brother and said there is no place of violence in sports. He told reporters, "Even if it involved someone from my own family, what happened was wrong. There is no place for this in sports."

Kumar also took to Twitter to convey his displeasure about the ugly incident. The post read, “It’s very unfortunate and highly condemnable what has happened today at the stadium. I do not support anyone who gets violence in between sportsmanship. My aim is to fight & win for my Nation like a true sportsman & not to win against any group or individual #JaiHind.”

Apart from Sushil Kumar, other freestyle grapplers who have booked their places in the Commonwealth Games 2018 are Rahul Aware (57kg), Bajrang (65kg), Somveer (86kg), Mausam Khatri (97kg) and Sumit (125kg). The six freestyle wrestlers also qualified for next year's Senior Asian Wrestling Championship to be held in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan. The 2018 Commonwealth Games will be held in Gold Coast, Australia.

Besides, 10 Greco-Roman wrestlers also qualified for the Asian Wrestling Championships. They are Rajender (55kg), Gyanender (60kg), Vikram Kurade (63kg), Manish (67kg), Kuldeep Malik (72kg), Gurpreet Singh (77kg), Harpreet Singh (82kg), Sunil (87kg), Hardeep (97kg) and Naveen (130kg).

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jan 01, 2018 06:23 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).