Crucial test awaits elite wrestlers as only winners in six weight categories will get tickets to Commonwealth Games

All eyes will be on two-time Olympian Vinesh Phogat when the elite women wrestlers assemble for the national selection trials later this month in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh.

Vinesh was considered to have the potential to win a medal at the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games, but she had an unceremonious exit instead. The 27-year-old star wrestler returned to the mat earlier this year in the 55kg category, but wasn’t impressive.

Phogat will now compete in 53kg, an Olympic event, at the national selection trials scheduled for May 16 in Lucknow.

The selection trials in the women’s freestyle will be held in six Olympic weight categories, namely 50kg, 53kg, 57kg, 62kg, 68kg and 76kg.

Vinesh failed to make the cut for the Asian Wrestling Championships held last month in Mongolia. Rio Olympic bronze medallist Sakshi Malik, too, has been unimpressive on the mat so far this year.

The winners in each of the six weight categories will get a berth for the Birmingham Commonwealth Games and the Hangzhou Asian Games, Vinod Tomar, assistant secretary of the Wrestling Federation of India, said on Thursday.

According to Tomar, runners-up in each of the six weight divisions will get a ticket to the World Wrestling Championships, scheduled to be held in Serbia from September 10-18.

The global event will coincide with the Asian Games, starting September 10 in China.

The men’s trials, meanwhile, will be held at the Indira Gandhi Indoor Sports Complex in New Delhi on May 17. The six weight categories in the men’s freestyle are 57kg, 65kg, 74kg, 86kg, 97kg and 125kg.

“The national selection trials will be the last chance for elite Indian wrestlers to prove themselves on the mat,” Tomar said. “The contest in each of the weight groups will be exciting as several seasoned wrestlers are also eyeing a berth for Commonwealth Games.”

Tokyo Olympic silver medallist Ravi Dahiya will be the main contender in 57kg, while Olympic bronze medal winner Bajrang Punia is expected to dominate 65kg.

The national trials in men’s Greco Roman will be held in 60kg, 67kg, 77kg, 87kg, 97kg and 130kg groups.