Indian wrestler Sushil Kumar returned to the mat after 3 years and won a Wrestling Nationals gold medal on Friday in the 74kg category. He won his first Nationals Championships gold after nine years as he walked over to victory in Indore. However, his victory landed in a controversy claiming that he won the medal without even lifting a finger.

It was Sushil’s first competition after three years and since the controversy involving Narsingh Yadav in 2016 prior to the Rio Olympics, which saw neither grappler eventually take part in the Games. The two-time Olympics medalist returned to the game after a gap but many were disappointed when he ended up winning the tournament without fighting a single match, thanks to the walkovers presented by his opponents.

He just fought two out of his five bouts as his opponents in the quarterfinal, semifinal and final refused to fight him and allowed him an unopposed path to the gold medal. Praveen, Sachin Rathi, and Parveen Rana are the three wrestlers. They all gave a walkover to the 34-year-old ahead of their matches in the last three stages.

Before the match, they all touched Sushil’s feet, after which the referee raised Sushil’s arm, indicating the result.

One such reaction came from Bollywood Director-actor-singer Farhan Akhtar, who expressed his disappointment at the manner of Sushil’s victory. Farhan tweeted, “I hold @WrestlerSushil in high regard for all he has achieved through hard work, discipline, blood, and sweat. Sincerely hope he does not accept the gold in this manner. It’s not sportsmanlike.”

I hold @WrestlerSushil in high regard for all he has achieved through hard work, discipline, blood and sweat. Sincerely hope he does not accept the gold in this manner. It’s not sportsmanlike. pic.twitter.com/Nv7WuOSJJz

— Farhan Akhtar (@FarOutAkhtar) November 18, 2017

His tweet on the issue has divided Twitterati. The tweet resulted in a heated debate as fans supported the actor in his claim and were of the opinion that the wrestler should return the medal.

The result saw mixed reactions on social media as some fans celebrated Sushil’s win and hailed his comeback. While on the other hand, there were also a number of critical messages as people slammed the nature of his win, calling it a sham and against the spirit of sportsmanship.

Check Out The Reactions Here:

https://twitter.com/AjayGupta50/status/931985595072696320

I also believe the same. 3 of the Challenger given him walkover.

— pankaj (@pankaj_y_adav) November 19, 2017

Its like @imkuldeep18 shouldnt bowl to @sachin_rt because of respect ! Bizarre

— sharath balan (@Sharathbalan) November 19, 2017

It’s common in sport to respect some legends (unlike in noutanki business).
🏏Hayden & Smith hv ended their innings to respect Sir.Bradman’s figures (in score/ partnership).
Voluntarily some player has conceded, out of respect.🌟Movie release date is ‘adjusted’, not competed? 😒

— 𝓥.𝓟.𝓘𝔂𝓮𝓻 (@panchapakesan) November 19, 2017

dis is wht expected frm bollywood-disrespecting their seniors,ideal & inspirations.

— Maheshwar Vishal (@mnvishal05) November 19, 2017

Agree with @FarOutAkhtar .. Mr. Sushil is a player and not God. He should have played and won the matches.

— Sudip Aryal (@sudiparyal) November 19, 2017

dis is wht expected frm bollywood-disrespecting their seniors,ideal & inspirations.

— Maheshwar Vishal (@mnvishal05) November 19, 2017

Please speakup for your industry people…

— mirza ferhan arif (@FerhanArif) November 19, 2017

@akshaykumar denied the role as Milkha thn u got it, why dint u rejected the role, payment, success of it becs he Walked Over? Guys like u get to role becs u r son of stars, what do u say in this case? @WrestlerSushil already proved himself, NoNeed for gyan from u

— Mrityunjai Trivedi (@Mrityunjai1982) November 20, 2017

Agreed. It’s about Gold in Intl matches. Only best should go. In a competitive sport, if one is unable to compete, then better not participate. USA, Russia and Iran are scared of Ind wrestlers not bcoz of Parampara, but Saamarth.

— RoryHunter (@Rory_D_Huntrr) November 19, 2017

Not only this, the other three wrestler who gave without a fight should be handed lifetime ban for bringing disgrace to sports. #SetAnExample

— Sanjay Manchanda (@sanjumanu093) November 18, 2017

Very good point. The other wrestlers should be taken to task for bringing disgrace to this Competetive sport. Also, future medals for country can’t be compromised.

— RoryHunter (@Rory_D_Huntrr) November 19, 2017

One question…. For your shitty films which got flopped did you returned back the remuneration…. If you have done this then please talk about sportsmanship..

— Manjula Guru (@ManjulaGSanathK) November 19, 2017

Whichever side one may be on in this debate, one thing is for certain that such a victory will hardly do anything to help Sushil, who is in need of match practice and such wins by walkovers will certainly not help to get his wrestling career back on track.

What do you say about Sushil Kumar’s gold medal-winning process? Share your views with us in the comments section below.