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The Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) has decided to send Tokyo Olympics-bound grapplers to multiple European cities for training and competitions after the planned camp in Sonepat was canceled due to COVID-19. The WFI has also allowed all eight wrestlers a sparring partner of their choice.
According to the earlier plan, all the wrestlers – four men and four women – were to assemble at the SAO center in Bahalgarh on Tuesday. But with the mandatory 14-day quarantine on arrival put in place, the WFI decided to move them abroad in the last week of May.
The contingent will reach Warsaw first, where they will compete in the final ranking series, from June 8-13. The event will provide wrestlers to gain some crucial points that will help them get a better draw at the Tokyo Olympics.
“We had planned a camp in Bahalgarh but since they would not be allowed to train for 14 days due to hard quarantine, we thought it is better they for the time being they train at their respective ‘akhadas’ and then travel to Poland,” WFI assistant secretary Vinod Tomar told PTI.
In a letter to their Polish counterparts, the WFI has requested to allow the training facilities to be used by the Indian wrestlers ahead of the Warsaw event. Post the competition, the Indian wrestlers will be in the city for training organized by the Polish federation.
“We are also allowing all the wrestlers to travel with one partner of their choice for practice. A few, like Vinesh Phogat, Bajrang Punia, Ravi Dahiya and Deepak Punia, will be accompanied by their personal coaches too,” he added.
Tokyo Olympics-bound Vinesh Phogat is training in Bulgaria
After completing the Warsaw leg, the Indian squad will be moving to Hungary for a training camp. They will then travel to Turkey to compete at the Yasar Dogu event (June 25-27).
Meanwhile, Vinesh Phogat (women’s 53kg), one of the Tokyo Olympics-bound wrestlers, is already in Bulgaria training with coach Woller Akos. She will join her teammates in Poland directly from there.
According to SAI sources, visas for Sonam Malik (women 62kg) and Sumit Malik (men’s 125kg) are also being processed as they are expected to be fit on time. Both suffered knee injuries during their qualifiers for the Tokyo Olympics.
The five other wrestlers to have qualified for the Tokyo Olympics are Ravi Dahiya (men’s 57kg), Bajrang Punia (men’s 65kg), Deepak Punia (men’s 86kg), Anshu Malik(women’s 57kg) and Seema Bisla (women’s 50kg).
