Geeta Phogat puzzled by 'trials' system

PUNE: The 'trials' system in India has puzzled 2010 Commonwealth Games gold-winning wrestler Geeta Phogat.

So far, Narsingh Yadav is the only Indian wrestler to have won a Rio quota berth for the country. Narsingh and twice Olympic medallist Sushil Kumar compete in the same weight category. The wrestling body is expected to conduct a trial to select one of them for the Rio Games.

When asked whether a single trial is enough to select the player for Olympics, Geeta said: "When I won quota for the London Games, I didn't give any trial. When Sushil won quotas for Beijing and London Olympics, I don't think he gave any trial to get selected for the team. It will happen for the first time that Narsingh, who has won the quota, will have to go through a trial." The 58kg wrestler has herself lost a 'trial' to her junior Sakshi Mallik recently.

Geeta, 27, says she was injured before the selection trials for the Asian Olympic Qualifiers.

Though Sakshi has gone for the quota event, Geeta feels she is still India's best bet.