There will be no selection trials for the Paris Olympics and all six wrestlers who had won quota for the country will compete in Paris, the Wrestling Federation of India announced on Tuesday.
Vinesh Phogat (50kg), Amtim Panghal (53kg), Reetika Hooda (76kg), Nisha Dahiya (68kg) and Anshu Malik (57kg) have qualified in women’s competition while only Aman Sehrawat (57kg) has earned the quota in men’s freestyle competition. It means the end of road for Tokyo Olympics silver medallist Ravi Dahiya who was looking to challenge Aman in selection trials. Dahiya, who is coming back from a knee injury, had lost to Aman in the selection trials for the two qualification competitions for Paris Olympics.
“Five wrestlers had written to us to not hold trials as it will affect their preparation. They will have to reduce weight and it will shift their focus on trials. Since there is little time left for Paris Olympics, the selection committee has decided to not hold trials and select the quota winners for Olympics team, as WFI has been doing previously, ” said WFI president Sanjay Singh.
It also means that Vinesh will have to compete in 50kg weight class in which she won the quota. Vinesh had last week asked WFI to announce the date of trials. The other five wrestlers had written to WFI to consider their selection for Paris without trials.
Only Antim won the quota last year, while three wrestlers, including Vinesh, bagged the spots at the Asian qualifiers in Bishkek last month. Aman and Nisha won the berths at the World Olympic qualifiers in Istanbul last week.
The wrestling competitions in Paris will be held from August 5-11.
“It leaves us with just 10 weeks of preparation time before the event, which is already less considering the timelines. Every single day of training is very important for me. Around this crucial time, preparing for another competition again affects my training plan, my diet, weight maintenance and I will lose out on a lot of practice sessions because of this,” a wrestler had said in a letter to the WFI.
The letter further stated: “If you consider our health, fitness during this crucial time, allow us to focus on the Paris Olympics so that we make our nation proud with the best possible outcomes.”