A week after defending her under-20 world championships crown, wrestler Antim Panghal, on Friday, won the trials in Patiala for next month's senior World Championships, earning herself the right to vie for a quota place for next year's Paris Olympics.
Panghal won the Asian Games trials last month but was named as a stand-by after the ad-hoc committee running the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) announced an automatic selection for double World Championships medallist Vinesh Phogat in the 53kg division.
A vocal critic of the decision, Panghal proved her mettle once again in Patiala and remained undefeated across six bouts. Phogat skipped the trials following surgery on her left knee last week.
Over 70 wrestlers appeared across ten weight classes which meant the bouts were conducted in Nordic style. No wrestlers in Greco Roman category who made it to the Asian Games participated in the trials while only four women who are part of the Asian Games squad — Antim, Sonam Malik (62kg), Radhika (68kg), Kiran (76kg) — appeared in the World Championships trials.
Of these, only Panghal won the trial, making her the lone wrestler across Greco and Women divisions to compete at the Worlds as well as the Asian Games. The 62kg division was won by Manisha while Priyanka won in the 68kg category. Asian Games bronze medallist Divya Kakaran won in the 76kg class.
{{/usCountry}}Of these, only Panghal won the trial, making her the lone wrestler across Greco and Women divisions to compete at the Worlds as well as the Asian Games. The 62kg division was won by Manisha while Priyanka won in the 68kg category. Asian Games bronze medallist Divya Kakaran won in the 76kg class.
{{/usCountry}}The World Championships will be held in Belgrade, Serbia from September 16-24 and is the first qualifying event for the Olympics. Asian Games begin in Hangzhou, China on September 23 with wrestling events scheduled to begin on October 4.
The trials for men's divisions will be held on Saturday with Olympic medallists Ravi Dahiya (57kg), Bajrang Punia (65kg) and Deepak Punia (86kg) giving the event a miss. While Dahiya is recuperating from a surgery on his right knee and has been ruled out for six months, Bajrang and Deepak have been cleared to train abroad till the Asian Games. Both their proposals have been cleared by SAI.
Like Vinesh, Bajrang has been given an automatic berth for the Asian Games, forcing Vishal Kaliraman — who won the Asian Games trials last month — to travel to Hangzhou as a standby in the 65kg division. Bajrang's absence will offer Kaliraman a chance to punch his ticket for Paris although the 65kg division remains a very competitive group. The 57kg class will be headlined by young Aman Sehrawat. Tipped as the rising star in Indian freestyle wrestling, 20-year-old Sehrawat is the reigning Asian Championships gold medallist and cruised through the Asian Games trials.