CHENNAI: Sushil Kumar will have to undergo selection trials if he wishes to compete in the Asian Continental Qualification Tournament, which serves as a qualifier for the 2020 Olympics. Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) has decided to organise trials to select grapplers not only for the second Olympic qualifier, but also for Asian Championships. The latter is scheduled from February 18 to 23, while the continental event will be held in Xian (China) from March 27 to 29.
“The selection trials will be held next month. The move aimed at giving every wrestler a chance to qualify for the Olympics. For Asian Championships, everyone except Bajrang Punia have to appear in the trials,” Vinod Tomar, WFI assistant secretary, said.
The decision to give Bajrang an exception was taken because of lack of competition in his weight category.Three male wrestlers, Ravi Dahiya (57kg), Bajrang (65kg) and Deepak Punia (86kg), and Vinesh Phogat (53kg) qualified for the Games during the World Championships in Nur-Sultan (Kazakhstan) in September.
Wrestlers from every participating nation can compete in six weight categories in each style — freestyle, Greco-Roman and women’s wrestling — in Olympics. This means three spots in freestyle (74kg, 97kg, 125kg), five in women’s wrestling (50kg, 57kg, 62kg, 68kg and 76kg) and all six in Greco-Roman (60kg, 67kg, 77kg, 87kg, 97kg, 130kg) are still up for grabs.
“National campers, including the ones who recently won a gold each in South Asian Games (SAG), can compete in the trials. Apart from these wrestlers, U-23 World Championship medallists and those who missed the nationals on medical grounds will be allowed to participate.”.
The trials will also be a chance for Sakshi Malik (62kg), Pooja Dhanda and Sarita Mor (57kg) to book a slot for the continental qualifier.
Gaurav Baliyan and Parveen Rana will be the main contenders when Sushil takes the mat during the trials. Gaurav won the 74kg gold at SAG. Parveen finished second in the nationals, losing to Gaurav in the final.
WFI will also organise national camps for men and women wrestlers, and that starts from December 20. Like the past, the male wrestlers will camp in Sonepat while the camp for female wrestlers will be held in Lucknow.
After the Continental event, World Qualification Tournament in Sofia (Bulgaria), from April 30 to May 3, will be the last chance for remaining wrestlers to qualify for Olympics.