Trial for World Championship will be held in Patiala on August 25-26, no wrestler will be exempted

New Delhi. The ad hoc committee governing wrestling in the country said on Monday that trials for the World Championship would be held in Patiala on August 25 and 26, in which no wrestler would be exempted. The exemption granted to Bajrang Punia and Vinesh Phogat from the Asian Games trials had created a huge furore and the decision of the ad-hoc committee was criticized by most of the wrestling fraternity.

The committee announced that no wrestler would be exempted from the trials for the World Championships to be held in Belgrade from September 16-24. The committee members are upset that neither Bajrang nor Vinesh have confirmed their participation in the trial.

An ad-hoc committee member told PTI on condition of anonymity that if these two wrestlers do not want to compete, then there is actually no need to conduct trials in all the six Olympic weight categories as the wrestlers are eligible for the Asian Games. Trials have already been done for

He said that wrestlers have complained that they are being asked to appear for trials twice in a short span of time. This affects their health and there is a possibility of injury. This member of the committee said, “Bajrang and Vinesh are not giving us any clarity about participating in the World Championship trials. We don’t need to hold trials again for the six Olympic weight categories if they don’t want to compete. In such a situation, we will conduct trials in only four non-Olympic weight categories.

“After getting a favorable order from the High Court to participate in the Asian Games without trial, he probably feels that his place in the Indian team is secure. We really want them to compete in the trials and prove themselves.” Finalists in the Asian Games trials, Anvil Panghal (women’s 53kg) and Sujit Kalkal (men’s 65kg) have raised their voice against the exemption granted to Bajrang and Vinesh. He had moved the court but his plea was rejected. Bajrang and Vinesh neither picked up calls nor replied to messages seeking their comments.

Among the criteria set for the selection of sportspersons for the World Championship, the ad-hoc panel said, “Besides medal winners and participants of all International/Ranking/Asian/World Championships/Commonwealth Games held in 2022 and 2023, participants of the 2021 Tokyo Olympic Games shall be eligible for this.” Can participate in the trial. The World Championships is the first qualifying event for the 2024 Paris Olympics. August 16 is the last date for sending the entries of the names of the players but the United World Wrestling (UWW) has accepted in principle India’s request to extend the deadline due to uncertainty over the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) elections.

Ad-hoc committee chief Bhupender Singh Bajwa told PTI, “It is an Olympic qualification tournament, so we could not delay the trials further.” Earlier, the ad-hoc committee wanted to hold the trials on 10 August but reversed its decision in view of the WFI elections on 12 August. The Punjab and Haryana High Court stayed these elections on 11 August and the next hearing of the matter would be on 28 August. According to a statement issued by the ad-hoc committee, “The players will be weighed at seven in the morning on the day of the competition and they will be given a relaxation of two kilos.”

The trial will be conducted in the following categories. Men’s Freestyle: 57kg, 61kg, 65kg, 70kg, 74kg, 79kg, 86kg, 92kg, 97kg and 125kg. Greco-Roman: 55 kg, 60 kg, 63 kg, 67 kg, 72 kg, 77 kg, 82 kg, 87 kg, 97 kg and 130 kg. Women’s Wrestling: 50kg, 53kg, 55kg, 57kg, 59kg, 62kg, 65kg, 68kg, 72kg and 76kg.

Disclaimer: IndiaTheNews has not edited this news. This news has been published from PTI-language feed.

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