CHENNAI: The selection trials for the upcoming U23 World Championships will begin at the IG Stadium, New Delhi on Monday. The Day 1 will witness eligible women wrestlers competing for a spot in the national U23 team for the big-ticket event in the national capital. The action will shift to the SAI Centre in Lucknow on Day 2 (Tuesday, September 1) with men freestyle and Greco-Roman wrestlers vying for a place in the team.
The Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) has issued a circular in this regard. The circular lists out eligibility criteria for the participants. As per the criteria, all medal winners of the U23 national wrestling championships held in Rohtak, Haryana from July 10 to 12 except the two (Nikhil 55kg in Greco-Roman and Rohit Kumar 65kg in freestyle), who recently failed the dope tests, will be eligible to compete in the trials. While Nikhil had won a gold medal in the competition, Rohit settled for silver after losing the final. Both were tested during the competition and their urine samples collected by the NADA contained banned substances. Nikhil's sample was collected on July 11 while Rohit's sample was collected a day later.
The criteria also say that national campers, who are aged between 18 to 23 years, and wrestlers, who represented the country in the U20 World Championships held in Slovakia, can also compete. Apart from them, medal winners of the U20 and U23 Asian Championships held in Thailand and Vietnam respectively are also eligible to take part in the trials.
"The weigh-in shall be conducted at 7AM on the same day of trials. As suggested by chief coaches, weight tolerance of 1kg will be allowed for the first five weight categories and 2kg for the upper five weight categories across all styles," read the circular. The participants have to carry their passports and recent photographs and entry will be denied in absence of these documents.
