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.
Direct entrant Bajrang Punia and Vinesh Phogat will spearhead an 18-member Indian Wrestling squad at the Asian Games to be held in Hangzhou, China.
While the Greco-Roman and women’s freestyle wrestlers were picked up after the selection trials held at Kedar Jadhav Hall in Indira Gandhi Stadium here on Saturday, the men’s freestyle trials were conducted on Sunday at the same venue.
Bajrang Punia (men’s 65kg) and Vinesh Phogat (women’s 53kg) were exempted from the trials by the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) ad-hoc committee, which is in charge of conducting the day-to-day affairs of the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI). The duo got direct entries
to the Hangzhou Games.
A total of 18 wrestlers, six each in Greco-Roman, men’s freestyle and women’s freestyles, were selected for the Asiad. An additional
two standbys, for the women’s 53kg and men’s 65kg, were also picked.
However, trials in their respective categories were still conducted and the winners will be standbys.
The biggest upset at the trials was Olympic silver medallist Ravi Kumar Dahiya losing his first-round bout against Atish Todkar and in the
process failed to make the cut for the Games.
Ravi was competing for the first time this year at the trials in New Delhi after recovering from a knee injury.
The men’s 57kg quota, however, went to Aman Sehrawat, an Asian and U23 world champion in the category. Aman beat Rahul, who had ousted Todkar in the semis, in the final. Olympian Deepak Punia sealed the 86kg berth, fending off a spirited Jonty in the final.
Vishal Kaliraman beat Rohit in the final of the 65kg category and will be the standby for Bajrang in the division. Yash, Vicky and Sumit clinched the 74kg, 97kg and 125kg freestyle slots, respectively.
The women’s section saw some big surprises with world championships medalists Sarita Mor and Anshu Malik both failing to make the cut.
Sarita Mor beat Anshu Malik 6-4 in the first round of the women’s 57kg category but lost in the semi-finals to junior world championships bronze medalist Mansi Ahlawat, who later beat fellow junior wrestler Sito to win the division.
Meanwhile, Antim Panghal, the 2022 U-20 world champion, dominated the 53kg division before pinning Manju in the final. However, the 19-year-old will have to be a standby for Vinesh Phogat.
Commonwealth Games bronze medalist Pooja Gehlot, meanwhile, sealed the 50kg slot by pinning Nirmala Devi in the final. Sonam Malik also won the 62kg trials with a victory by fall over Manisha. Olympic medalist Sakshi Malik did not compete in the trials and will miss the Asian Games.
The women’s 68kg, meanwhile, saw another big upset with Radhika emerging as the surprising winner. She knocked out favourite Nisha Dahiya before getting the better of Priyanka in the final. Kiran won the 76kg, out wrestling Divya Kakran in the deciding bout.
Former Asian championships bronze medal winner Gyanender was the top wrestler in the 60kg Greco-Roman division while usual suspects Neeraj, Naveen and Narinder Cheema also made the cut.
However, Sajan Bhanwal, who became the first-ever Indian Greco-Roman wrestler to win a medal at the U-23 world championships last year, failed to make the cut in the 77kg.
The Team:
Greco-Roman: Gyanender – 60kg, Neeraj – 67kg, Vikash – 77kg, Sunil Kumar- 87kg, Narinder Cheema – 97kg, Naveen – 130kg,
Women’s freestyle: Pooja Gehlot – 50kg, Vinesh Phogat – 53kg (Antim Panghal as standby), Mansi Ahlawat – 57kg, Sonam Malik – 62kg, Radhika – 68kg, Kiran – 76kg
Men’s freestyle: Aman Sehrawat – 57kg, Bajrang Punia – 65kg (Vishal Kaliraman as standby), Yash – 74kg, Deepak Punia – 86kg, Vicky – 97kg, Sumit – 125kg
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