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Tokyo Olympics silver medalist Ravi Dahiya is among 12 elite Indian wrestlers selected for an international exposure cum competition tour of Bulgaria. According to an official of the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI), the national wrestling squad, including two officials, will leave for Europe on Sunday (February 6) evening.
The national team will practice in the Bulgarian city of Teteven and will compete in an invitation wrestling competition from February 17 to 20, the WFI official said. The European Tour, which will conclude on February 23, is part of preparations for this year's Birmingham Commonwealth Games and the Asian Games in China.
Indian wrestling squad originally to train in Russia
Originally, the Indian wrestling squad was to go for advanced training in Russia, but the plan was called off due to the pandemic.
“The Indian team bound for Russia in January got the necessary travel documents, but due to a spike in Covid-19 cases in the Moscow region, the wrestling training center there was shut down,” the WFI official said.
Apart from Dahiya, Olympian Deepak Punia, Gaurav Baliyan and Sandeep Singh are three other freestyle wrestlers selected for the Bulgarian tour, while Asian champion Sunil Kumar, Sajan Bhanwal, Ravi Malik and Ashu are four Greco Roman grapplers in the squad.
Other members of the Indian squad include Balwant Singh Chikara, SB Prasad (officials), Arun, Arun Kumar, Monu Dahiya and Hardeep Singh (sparring partners).
Another Indian wrestling squad consisting of gold medal winners in the various weight categories from the 2021 National Championship will compete at Yasar Dogu, a World Ranking Series in Turkey from February 24 to 27.
Meanwhile, the Sports Authority of India (SAI) has also approved national wrestling camps for men and women from February 7 to March 23. The men's camp will be conducted at the SAI training center in Sonepat while the women’s freestyle camp will be staged at the SAI center in Lucknow.
