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Controversy broke out on social media after Olympic bronze medalist Yogeshwar Dutt slammed pro wrestler Sangram Singh, after which he entered into a war of words with Sangram's wife, actress Payal Rohtagi.
On Friday, Sangram is all set to face off against American wrestler Kevin Radford Jr. on the opening day of the KD Jadhav Memorial International Kushti Championships held at the Talkatora Stadium in Delhi.
The bout was organized as a tribute to the legendary KD Jadhav, who was India's first Olympic medalist in wrestling at the 1952 Olympic Games in Helsinki. Also, Sangram is all set to star in a biopic film on Jadhav, which is likely to be directed by the reputed Shyam Benegal.
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The event has been talked about a lot in the media and has created quite a buzz, but Yogeshwar Dutt, who won the bronze medal at the London Olympics, was not impressed by Sangram's efforts to promote wrestling in such a manner. He replied to a post on Twitter, before sharing his thoughts in a long thread.
The controversy kicked off after Sangram tweeted:
Yogeshwar, who is known for being blunt while sharing his thoughts on social media, replied to the post. He questioned why KD Jadhav's name was added to a match that is being played on a WWE model and then added why it is called a championship, when it is nowhere close to being an actual one.
He cheekily added, "Where will the real wrestlers go if you get used to the fake ones?"
He then elaborated on his point and stated once again, referred to Sangram as 'nakli' or fake. He stated that it was because of the efforts of the 'real' wrestlers that people have started taking an interest in sports in India and that if he really wishes to promote sports, he should conduct a league.
Yogeshwar questioned what benefit the wrestlers were receiving from this kind of event - in terms of experience or monetary benefit.
Things then took an ugly turn as Sangram's wife, Payal Rohtagi stepped in and responded to Yogeshwar's tweets. She alluded to the controversy involving Salman Khan and the star wrestler, stating that they have the right to start their own competition and asked Yogeshwar to 'live and let live'.
Yogeshwar responded with another strongly-worded tweet, questioned how Sangram can call himself a Commonwealth Champion without ever competing in one and termed the event as a 'reality show'.
He then added that India should have a proper league at every level so that genuine athletes have a chance to earn name and fame.
