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13 Indian wrestlers are all set to take part in the upcoming Zagreb Open in Croatia as the ad-hoc panel of the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI), on Tuesday, named the team. The squad announcement was delayed due to visa procurement reasons, which have now been sorted out successfully.
Notably, the Croatian Wrestling Federation had invited 13 players, nine coaching and support staff, and three referees, which concluded a 25-member Indian contingent for the tournament.
Bhupinder Singh Bajwa, who leads the three-member committee running the WFI recently, announced that the team and officials slated for Zagreb Open 2024 will complete their visa formalities within a day.
He thanked the Ministry of External Affairs for intervening and sorting out visa-related issues, as a result of which, the team was finalized. In a press conference, he stated:
“The team was facing difficulty in securing a visa appointment. However, the Ministry of External Affairs has helped the team in this regard.”
Since Zagreb Open 2024 is scheduled to take place from January 10-15, Singh has assured taking every measure to make sure the team reaches the Croatian capital timely.
He was quoted as saying in the conference:
“We have taken every step to ensure that the team reaches Zagreb well in time for the tournament,”
“We have ensured that India’s Olympic hopefuls would compete in their respective weight class along with a 2kg weight allowance in the first ranking event of the Olympic year,”
Singh has put his confidence in the 13 players to perform exceptionally, to prepare for the Asian and World Qualification tournaments.
Indian contingent for Zagreb Open 2024
The following names conclude the Indian contingent list for the prestigious wrestling tournament:
Men's Freestyle:
- 57kg: Aman
- 74kg: Yash
- 86kg: Deepak Punia
- 97kg: Vicky
- 125kg: Sumit
Greco-Roman:
- 60kg: Gyanender
- 67kg: Neeraj
- 77kg: Vikas
- 87kg: Sunil Kumar
- 97kg: Narinder Cheema
- 130kg: Naveen
Women's:
- 62kg: Sonam
- 68kg: Radhika
Coaching and Support Staff:
- Team Leader and Coach: Kuldeep Singh
- Coaches: Vinod Kumar, Sujeet, Shashi Bhushan Prasad, Manoj Kumar, Virender Singh, Alka Tomar
- Physiotherapist: Vishal Kumar Rai
- Masseur: Neeraj
Referees:
- Satya Dev Malik
- Dinesh Dhondiba Gund
- Sanjay Kumar
Notably, this tournament is a ranking series set to begin with freestyle and will be followed by women's wrestling and Greco-Roman respectively.
