Bajrang Punia and Vinesh Poghat could miss Asian Games if they lose World Championships trials: Ad-hoc panel member

The proposal to withdraw India's top wrestlers Bajrang Punia and Vinesh Phogat from the country's Asian Games squad if they lose the upcoming World Wrestling Championships trials will be made to the IOA’s Indian Olympic Association’s ad-hoc panel, according to Gian Singh, a member of the committee.

Punia (men’s freestyle 65kg) and Phogat (women’s 53kg), along with four other wrestlers who staged a sit-in protest at Delhi’s Jantar Mantar from April 21 to May 28, had sought time till August 10 to prepare for the wrestling trials for the upcoming Asian Games.

However, the Olympic Council Asia did not extend the deadline to receive entries beyond July 23. This forced the IOA ad-hoc panel, which currently conducts the day-to-day affairs of the Wrestling Federation of India, to conduct the trials on July 22 and 23 at the Indira Gandhi Stadium in Delhi.

Punia and Phogat were allowed to sit out the trials as they were given direct entries for the quadrennial event, a decision that did not sit well with the majority of the wrestling committee.

On Tuesday, July 25, Gian Singh, a member of the IOA ad-hoc panel, revealed that a proposal to drop both wrestlers from the Asian Games squad should they lose the World Championships trials will be made. He further stated that Punia will be on the standby list if he loses the trial, with Vishal Kaliraman replacing him in the Asian Games squad.

“We will propose to the panel that only if Bajrang and Vinesh win the World Championship trials, only then they should be sent for the Asian Games, otherwise not. If Bajrang loses the trial then he will be on stand-by and the winner of the Asian Games trial (Vishal Kaliraman) will go,” Singh told PTI (via Indian Express).

Kaliraman (men’s freestyle 65kg) and Antim Panghal (women’s 53kg), who won the Asian Games trials in categories where Punia and Poghat compete, are currently on the standby list for the event.

The 2023 World Wrestling Championships will be held in Belgrade, Serbia, from September 16, followed by the Asian Games, which are scheduled to get underway on September 23 in Hangzhou, China.

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India's wrestling squad for 2023 Asian Games

Greco-Roman: Gyanender Gyani (60 kg), Neeraj (67 kg), Vikash Dalal (77 kg), Sunil Kumar (87 kg), Narinder Cheema (97 kg) and Naveen Kumar (130 kg)

Women’s freestyle: Pooja Gehlot (50 kg), Vinesh Phogat (53 kg), Mansi Ahlawat (57 kg), Sonam Malik (62 kg), Radhika (68 kg) and Kiran (76 kg)

Men’s freestyle: Aman Sehrawat (57 kg), Bajrang Punia (65 kg), Yash Tushir (74 kg), Deepak Punia (86 kg), Vicky (97 kg) and Sumit (125 kg)

Standbys: Antim Panghal (for Vinesh Phogat) and Vishal Kaliraman (for Bajrang Punia)