China will enter Olympic qualifier: Asia chief
United World Wrestling (UWW), the world governing body, said on Wednesday that China will compete in next month’s Asian Olympic qualifier.
The novel coronavirus epidemic in China led to the country’s 40-member contingent not participating in the Asian Wrestling Championships underway at the Indira Gandhi Indoor Sports Complex here. Severe travel restrictions led to Chinese wrestlers missing the chance to compete in the six-day continental tournament.
However, United World Wrestling (UWW), the world governing body, said on Wednesday that China will compete in next month’s Asian Olympic qualifier. “The Asian qualifier scheduled at Xian in the last week of March has been shifted from China, but there is no way it will be postponed. The new venue has been decided and it will be announced this weekend,” Daulet Turlykhanov, UWW bureau member, said.
“China is facing a health crisis due to the coronavirus outbreak, but they will have to compete in next month’s Asian Olympic qualifier to win berths for the Tokyo Olympics,” he added.
The Kazakhstan president of the Asian Wrestling Council said: “There is no system where non-participating nations will be awarded points. There is an Olympic qualification process in place and the best from the continent will go,” Turlykhanov said at the Asian meet.