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Wrestlers not keen on national camp ahead of Asian Games
In a year of turmoil for the sport, wrestlers have preferred to train in their respective centres ahead of the Hangzhou Games.
Freestyle and women wrestlers selected for the Asian Games have preferred to continue training at their respective centres instead of joining the national camp.
A camp has not been held in the last seven months despite several requests from national coaches. Since the suspension of the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) in January following the protest by top wrestlers against then WFI president Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, wrestlers have been confined to their respective training centres and go for competition straight from there. A short national camp was called before the Asian Championships in April.
With the trials for Asian Games and World Championships finally over after a long delay, there was a plan to hold a short national camp. The ad hoc panel of the Indian Olympic Association which runs wrestling reached out to the wrestlers asking them to spell out their choice, as mandated by the Sports Authority of India (SAI). A national camp is important as it helps coaches assess the form and fitness of wrestlers ahead of a major event and also ensure sparring partners.
While the six Asiad-bound Greco-Roman wrestlers want a camp to be organised overseas, the men’s and women’s freestyle wrestlers have said they want to continue training at their respective centres.
“It is too late to have a national camp. The world championships and Asian Games are back-to-back events. Aman Sehrawat (57kg), Sumit Malik (125kg) and Antim Panghal (53kg) have made it to both squads. With the Worlds starting on September 16, there is little preparation time left for them. Other wrestlers didn’t want their training to be disturbed at the last moment,” said a coach aware of the developments.
In the freestyle squad, Tokyo Olympics medallist Bajrang Punia, one of the protesters who got a direct berth for the Hangzhou Asian Games, and Deepak Punia wanted to train overseas. Bajrang’s proposal to train in Kyrgyzstan and Deepak’s training in Russia have been cleared.
“The national camp was very important but now it has been delayed so much that you understand why the wrestlers do not want a change in their training plan at the last moment,” said another coach.
Tokyo Olympian Sonam Malik’s coach Ajmer Malik said she wants to completely focus on the Asian Games. Sonam (62kg) won the Asian Games trials, but lost out on a berth for the World Championships.
“She was having a niggle, so she didn’t want to go all out. Her focus is Asian Games and she wants to continue preparation at the training centre,” said Ajmer Malik.
In Greco Roman, those selected for the Asian Games did not compete in the world championships trials. Therefore, there are two teams and the Asiad bound wrestlers will get a full month to prepare. They want to travel to Azerbaijan for a training camp.
