Can’t skip national camp and train separately: WFI
Two wrestlers had plans to train in Japan but WFI said coaches need to monitor fitness and performance
New Delhi: Adopting a tough stance against wrestlers who wanted to skip the ongoing national camp here and go overseas for training, the Wrestling Federation of India has denied permission and asked them to continue with their preparation at the IG Stadium.
It has been learnt that two top wrestlers, who won medals at the Asian Wrestling Championships, shared their plans to visit Japan and prepare separately for the international ranking series in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia from May 29-June 1.
“The wrestlers wanted to train individually in Japan but WFI told them when a camp is underway in Delhi, they should focus on training along with other members of the team. There are sparring partners available in the camp and all facilities are being provided by the government,” said a WFI official.
In the build-up to the Paris Olympics, some wrestlers had training stints at Nippon Sports Science University in Yokohama, Japan. However, there was no national camp at the time.
“Such training stints did not help the performance of the wrestlers. One wrestler returned with an injury. Since the ongoing camp has started after a long time, the coaches want to monitor their fitness and performance,” the official said.
The camp has been sanctioned for two months but will continue till the world championships in Croatia in September.
The selection trials for the ranking series on Mongolia will be held on Tuesday. While those who have won medals at the Asian Championships have been given a direct entry, trials will be held in six weight categories. Antim Panghal (53kg), Muskan (59kg), Manisha Bhanwala (62kg), Mansi Lather (68kg) and Reetika Hooda (76kg) won medals at the Asian meet. Trials will be conducted in 50kg, 55kg, 57kg, 65kg, 72kg and 68kg (Mansi is injured).
Two-time Olympian Anshu Malik has been allowed to appear in the trials. Anshu reached out to the TOPS Division that she intends to compete in Mongolia. Though Anshu did not appear in the earlier trials and is not part of the national camp, WFI has invited her for the selection meet.
On Monday, the men’s selection trials were conducted. In Freestyle, Rahul (57kg), Rohit (65kg), Vishal Kaliraman (70kg) Jaideep (74kg), Amit (79kg), Ashish (86kg), Vicky (97kg) booked berths for the ranking series. Udit (61kg), Deepak Punia (92kg) and Dinesh (125kg) who won medals in continental meet are already through.
