India will have only one men’s freestyle wrestler besides five women competitors at the Paris Olympics. After Aman Sehrawat (57kg) qualified on Saturday, Indian hopes of more men coming through at the World Olympic Qualifier in Istanbul were dashed as Sujeet Kalkal (65kg) and Jaideep Ahlawat (74kg) lost in the repechage rounds.
Wrestling was India’s most successful sport at the Tokyo Olympics with Ravi Dahiya (57kg) and Bajrang Punia (65kg) winning silver and bronze respectively. But the sport in India has been in turmoil in the last one year due to protests. No national camps were held during the period and the level of training in the Olympic year has taken a toll.
With Sujeet not qualifying, it was the end of the road for Punia too as far as Paris is concerned. Dahiya (65kg) though remains in contention as Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) president Sanjay Singh said on Sunday that selection trials to pick the final squad will be held early next month.
“Selection trials will be held on June 10. Some wrestlers are training overseas and once they return we will hold the trials. It will be in the format as given in our policy where a challenger will be selected from the top four eligible wrestlers and there will be three bouts with the quota winner. The quota winner will have to win once while he gets two opportunities if he loses to the challenger,” he said.
Dahiya, who was coming back from a knee injury, lost the selection trials to Sehrawat in Sonepat in March. But he will get an opportunity to wrestle the Paris berth from Aman in the trials.
In women, India have quotas through Vinesh Phogat (50kg), Antim Panghal (53kg), Anshu Malik (57kg), Nisha Dahiya (68kg) and Reetika Hooda (75kg). At the controversial selection trials in Patiala, Vinesh finished in the top four in 53kg while winning the trials in 50kg. She had said she is more comfortable in the 53kg class. At the Asian Qualifiers in Bishkek, Vinesh booked an Olympics qualification berth in 50kg. It remains to be seen if she sticks to 50kg or decides to challenge Antim in 53kg.
WFI president Singh said she will have to pick one weight class in the trials.
“We will go by the UWW (world body) rule which says a wrestler can compete in only one weight category. She has to choose between 50kg and 53kg; whichever weight she gives her weigh-in, she can compete in that,” said Singh.
In Patiala, Vinesh, the face of the wrestling protest with Sakshi Malik and Bajrang Punia, had refused to give trials in front of WFI officials. She had a showdown on the issue with the ad hoc committee running WFI. Vinesh has refused to acknowledge WFI saying the new body is a proxy of former president Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh and that they are out to finish her career. At the Asian qualifiers, Vinesh went with her own coach and physio. It remains to be seen if she puts forward any condition for the selection trials.
Sujeet loses
There were high hopes on Sujeet after the 2022 U20 Worlds medallist competed impressively on Saturday before losing to Mongolia’s Tulga Tumur Ochir in the semi-finals. In the repechage, Sujeet lost a close bout to Zain Allen Retherford of USA by criteria (2-2). In 74kg, Jaideep lost to Turkey’s Soner Demirtas.
“It is disappointing that only one freestyle wrestler has qualified,” said wrestling coach and former international Kripa Shankar Patel. “But you cannot blame these wrestlers. There was no national camp in one year, hardly any exposure trips. Everything was disorganised. They should have allowed training at national camps. It makes a big difference,” he added.