CHENNAI: Tokyo Olympics silver medallist Ravi Dahiya (57kg) managed to secure his place in the national team for the Asian Championships without even taking the mat on Thursday.
He along with Olympians — Bajrang Punia (65kg) and Deepak Punia (86kg) — was given a direct passage to the final of the selection trials held at KD Jadhav Indoor Wrestling Stadium on Thursday.
The Asian Championships is scheduled to be held in Mongolia from April 19 to 24.
While Bajrang and Deepak competed in the final, Ravi’s final opponent, Aman gave a walkover raising questions over the Wrestling Federation of India’s decision.
“Given their accomplishments, the trio deserves respect and bye in a bout or two would have been enough but putting them directly in the finals defeats the purpose of the trials. This move gave them a big advantage over the final opponents, who have to undergo a minimum of three or four bouts to reach the finals and that too within a few hours only,” said a coach, who witnessed the trials.
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