Grapplers Vinesh, Anshu seal Paris Olympics quota
Vinesh, one of the main faces of the wrestlers’ protest last year, defeated Kazakhstan’s Laura Ganikyzy in the 50kg semifinal to inch closer to competing at her third straight Olympics.
Asian champion Bajrang Punia is among the eight men’s freestyle wrestlers to have won the selection trials to represent India at the U-23 World Championships, scheduled to be held in Poland next month.
Bajrang also took part in the Senior World Championships in Paris in August but had returned empty-handed from there after going down in his repechage round in men’s 65kg freestyle.
Although Bajrang has already turned 23 earlier this year, according to the United World Wrestling (UWW) rules, he is eligible to take part in any Under-23 competition in the year 2017.
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“According to the UWW rules, Bajrang can take part in the U-23 World Championships since it is taking place in the year 2017,” Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) assistant secretary Vinod Tomar told PTI.
Apart from Bajrang, other well-known names like Utkarsh Kale (57kg) and Ravinder (61kg) have also cleared the trials in their respective weight divisions and are all set to be part of the upcoming competition.
“Aaj U23 World Championship ki trial jeet kar bahut khushi hui! World Championship ki tayyari main koi kasar nahi chodunga (I am happy to have won the selection trial today. I will not leave any stone unturned in my preparation for the World Championships),” Bajrang wrote on his twitter handle after the trials.
Eight Greco-Roman wrestlers have also been picked after the completion of trials for both freestyle and Greco-Roman wrestling at the Sonipat Training Centre (STC) here.
Squad:
Men’s Freestyle: Utkarsh Kale (57kg), Ravinder (61kg), Bajrang (65kg), Vinod Kumar (70kg), Dinesh (74kg), Deepak (86kg), Vicky (97kg), Pushpendra Singh (125kg).
Greco Roman: Gyanendra (59kg), Manish (66kg), Yogesh (71kg), Manjeet (75kg), Deepak Gulia (80kg), Sunil (85kg), Sumit (98kg), Mehar Singh (130 kg).
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