CHENNAI: After two days of trials, the Indian contingent for the World Wrestling Championship, to be held in Paris from August 21 to 26, has been selected. And it is quite a strong squad, with the likes of Sakshi Malik, Vinesh Phogat, Sandeep Tomar and Parveen Rana a part. And national coach Jagminder Singh expects a good tournament.
“It's a strong squad, and we expect to grab a few medals. After all, wrestlers train in order to win medals, and with the kind of squad we have, I'm sure we'll come back with a good haul,” he told Express on Friday.
While the men's trials was held on Thursday at the SAI Training Centre in Sonepat, the one for women was held on Friday at the SAI Training Centre, Lucknow. A total of 24 wrestlers will travel to France to participate in men's freestyle, Greco Roman and women's categories.
One big name that is yet to make the cut is Bajrang Punia, who couldn't participate at the trials as he fell ill. He will have his selection bout against Rahul Maan sometime next week. “Bajrang fell ill a day before the trials, and he requested the Wrestling Federation of India to hold trials next week, once he had recovered. There should be no issues for him against Rahul, as Bajrang is the better wrestler, and I'm confident he'll make the cut. One has to remember that he's one of our best bets at international meets,” Jagminder added.
While Sakshi, who switched to the 60kg category (and won silver) from 58kg at the Asian Wrestling Championships in May, will continue in the former, Vinesh will come back to her preferred 48kg segment after winning silver in 55kg at the continental meet. Not surprisingly, no Phogat sister made the cut, with Geeta and Babita not participating in the trials, while their younger sisters, Ritu and Sangeeta, didn't make the grade.
In order to prepare best for the Worlds, the men will travel to Spain, starting July 13. It will include one event, followed by a one week training stint, before they head back to Sonepat to continue preparations.
Squad: Men: Freestyle: Sandeep Tomar (57kg), Harphool (61kg), Rahul Mann/Bajrang Punia (65kg), Amit Dhankar (70kg), Praveen Rana (74kg), Deepak (86kg), Satywart Kadiyan (97kg), Sumit (125kg).
Greco-Roman: Gyanender (59kg), Ravinder (66kg), Yogesh (71kg), Gurpreet Singh (75kg), Harpreet Singh (80kg), Ravinder Khatri (85kg), Hardeep (98kg), Naveen (130kg).
Women: Vinesh Phogat (48kg), Sheetal (53kg), Lalita (55kg), Pooja Dhanda (58kg), Sakshi Malik (60kg), Shilpi (63kg), Navjot Kaur (69kg), Pooja (75kg).