Top wrestlers seek more time to prepare for selection trial

The trials from Feb 27 to select teams for two Olympic qualifiers expected to be held later

With two Paris Olympics qualification tournaments set to take place this year, top wrestlers have sought more time from the ad-hoc committee to prepare for selection trials.

The committee has taken inputs from top wrestlers, including Vinesh Phogat, Bajrang Punia, Anshu Malik etc. (Vinesh Phogat/Instagram)

In November, the ad-hoc committee had announced a new selection policy as per which the quota place winners will also have to face selection trials at home to confirm their spots. However, the newly-elected Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) came back to power in December and said they would scrap the policy as there was no time to conduct trials, leading to much confusion among wrestlers.

Now, with the WFI suspended and an ad-hoc committee looking after administration, wrestlers also want clarity about the process that will determine their berths for Paris Games.

An Olympic quota in wrestling is for the country and not the wrestler. However, the earlier WFI policy gave quota winners direct entry to the Olympics.

It has been learned that the ad-hoc committee will go with their policy of holding selection trials for the Paris Olympics but with some change in dates of trial and provide weight relaxation. The committee has taken inputs from top wrestlers, including Vinesh Phogat, Bajrang Punia, Anshu Malik etc, who were competing here at the ongoing championships.

The Asian Olympic Qualifier will be held from April 19-21 in Kyrgyzstan while the World Olympic Qualifier will take place in Turkey from May 9-12.

"The national championships have been delayed so the wrestlers need some more time to prepare. The wrestlers have made a request and the ad hoc committee is looking into it," said officials aware of the development.

Bajrang Punia is currently training in Russia while Deepak Punia is in the US. Sarita and Anshu Malik are also headed for overseas training camps.

World championships medallist Sarita said that the Olympic selection policy should be announced.

“It is a very important year for wrestlers and we need to plan our schedule. Everything from Olympic selection policy, the tournaments where the Indian team will participate etc should be announced. We have already lost so much time last year but now the focus should be on Olympic preparation,” she said.

Entries soar in freestyle

On the last day of the Senior National Championships, there was a delay in the start of freestyle competition because the ad-hoc committee was flooded with requests for entries. In fact, the draw sheets showed 325 wrestlers competing in 10 weight categories representing 34 states, UTs and institutional units. Most of the North Eastern states, along with Union Territories like Puducherry, Lakshadweep and Andaman and Nicobar Islands also featured in the competition, which led some coaches to claim that wrestlers from Haryana are being given opportunity from these places.

However, with several states organising two separate trials – one for WFI-backed Nationals and another for ad-hoc backed ‘sanctioned’ Nationals, there was difficulty in verification of eligible candidates. The technical officials were busy sorting out such issues till midnight on Sunday.

“The Nationals are happening after one year and we had to ensure that nobody is left out because it is an important year. The national campers will be decided from here,” said a technical official.

To avoid such things, the ad-hoc committee is expected to reach out to state units to hold trials and send teams for the Junior National Championships in Gwalior this month.