NEW DELHI: Top Indian wrestlers continued to opt out of big events as the likes of Vinesh Phogat and Bajrang Punia have decided to give the upcoming 2nd Ranking Series Ibrahim-Moustafa tournament a miss.
It is the second time in the month that Vinesh, Bajrang, Ravi Dahiya, Deepak Punia, Anshu Malik, Sangeeta Phogat and Sangita Mor have decided to sit out of an important tournament, to be held in Alexandria, Egypt from February 23 to 26.
The top grapplers had earlier pulled out of the Zagreb Open, saying they are not ready for the competition.
The Mary Kom-headed oversight committee managing the WFI affairs cleared a contingent of 27 Indian wrestlers for the upcoming tournament.
The event will be crucial for gaining ranking points for better seeding at the Senior Asian Championships 2023 and the Senior World Championships 2023.
The Indian team consists of nine freestyle, eight women and 10 greco-roman wrestlers, besides 16 coaches and support staff.
The 27 wrestlers will also include three Target Olympics Podium Scheme (TOPS) grapplers -- Ashu (67kg GR), Bhateri (65kg women) and Sujeet (65kg FS).
"We want to ensure that the sport and the athletes do not suffer and more and more wrestlers get international exposure, so they can have the opportunity to compete against the best in the world," Mary Kom said in a statement.
So far, as many as nine current and former world championship gold medallists have registered for the second ranking series.
During their three-day protest at Jantar Mantar in January, the wrestlers said that they will not compete in any national or international tournament till the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) is disbanded and its chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh sacked.
Team: Greco-Roman: Manjeet (55kg), Vikram Kurade (60kg), Karanjeet (67kg), Nitin (63kg), Ashu (67kg), Ankit Gulia (72kg), S ajan (77kg), Rohit Dahiya (82kg), Narinder Cheema (97kg), Naveen (130kg).
Women: Sushma Shokeen (55kg), Sito (57kg), Simran (59kg), Sumitra (62kg), Bhateri (65kg), Radhika (68kg), Reetika (72kg), Kiran (76kg).
Freestyle: Udit (57kg), Pankaj (61kg), Sujeet (65kg), Sagar Jaglan (74kg), Pardeep (79kg), Jonty Kumar (86kg), Prithviraj Patil (92kg), Sahil (97kg0, Dinesh (125kg).