CHENNAI: Given his long absence from international competitions — Tokyo Olympics was his last event outside India — ace Indian wrestler Bajrang Punia (65kg) wants to reach Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia a few days in advance for the Asian Championships starting April 19. Ravi Dahiya (57kg) and Deepak Punia (86kg) also plan to do the same.
However, the unavailability of tickets means their plan for acclimatisation prior to the event might not succeed. The Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) though is making efforts to make sure the trio board the flight along with the Greco-Roman wrestlers to reach the venue on April 17.
The unavailability of tickets has made the federation to include only five Greco-Roman wrestlers along with three referees and a coach in the first batch scheduled to leave on April 16. The remaining five GR wrestlers along with women grapplers will fly out of the country two days later. The continental event will begin with competitions in GR followed by women and freestyle wrestling bouts.
"The freestyle team including the trio is scheduled to leave on April 20. But Bajrang wants to reach the venue early. We are still working on other options and if we manage to find a solution, the trio can leave on April 16," a WFI source told this daily.
Ravi won the gold while Bajrang and Deepak finished with a silver each in the last edition. Since bagging bronze at the 2020 Games, Bajrang was slated to take the mat for the first time at the Yasar Dogo Ranking Series in Istanbul, Turkey in February. However, a minor leg injury forced him to skip the event.
Both Bajrang and Ravi are the No 1 seeds in their respective weight categories while Deepak is seeded second for the continental event. Anshu Malik (57kg) and Sarita Mor (59kg) will lead India's campaign in women's wrestling at the event. Both won a gold each in the 2021 edition held in Almaty, Kazakhstan.