Muristek
New Delhi, March 24
Taking the mat for the first time since winning a bronze medal at the Tokyo Olympics, star Indian wrestler Bajrang Punia was far from his dominant best as he just about managed to prevail 4-2 against Rohit to secure his place in the Indian team for the Asian Championships.
The national federation put Bajrang, Tokyo Olympics silver medallist Ravi Dahiya and Deepak Punia directly in the finals, a move which did not amuse other competing wrestlers and their coaches.
Eventually all three made the Indian team for the Asian Championships, starting April 19 in Mongolia. Ravi (57kg) got a walkover from Aman, who chose not to compete after developing stiff back following four tough bouts. Deepak (86kg) beat Vinod 6-0 in an ill-tempered final, which ended when the latter was given a third caution.
Bajrang, who had planned to compete in a couple of ranking series events to start his season but could not due to a left-knee issue, was not sharp and was perhaps surprised by the aggression of his opponent.
Rohit went 2-0 up but Bajrang logged four points just before the end of first period. Bajrang defended his lead despite Rohit's all-out effort.
"This was my first bout after the Olympics," Bajrang said. "It takes time to get that sharpness when you go to the mat after so many months. After my injury, I did my rehab on my own, I did not have a personal physio with me, otherwise I could have recovered early," he added.
"Overall, I am happy with my performance considering that I competed after eight months. I felt good," he added.
The 28-year-old had injured his left knee during the national camp in January. He had trained in Iran before returning to the country.
Meanwhile, intense competition was witnessed in the 74kg category, with Yash Tushir emerging the winner.
Yash, the junior World Championships bronze medal winner, moved to 8-4 before pinning Pritam, the reigning national champion. Mangal (61kg), Naveen (70kg), Gourav Baliyan (79kg), Satywart Kadiyan (97kg) also booked their spots in the national freestyle team. — PTI
Nisha, Geeta barred from trials
Sending out a stern message that indiscipline will not be tolerated, the Wrestling Federation of India has barred 10 women wrestlers, including U-23 World Championships bronze medallist Nisha Dahiya, from competing in the trials for the upcoming Asia Championship. The barred wrestlers either did not report for the national camp in Lucknow or left after just two days. The other wrestlers barred from the trials are Honey Kumari (50kg), Ankush (53kg), Anju (55kg), Raman (55kg), Geeta Phogat (59kg), Bhateri (65kg), Priyanka (65kg), Naina (68kg) and Pooja (76kg).
"We will ask for an explanation from the wrestlers why they are not taking the national camp seriously. Missing out on a chance to compete in a tournament like Asian Championship will certainly teach them a lesson," WFI president Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh said. "Our second line is pretty strong, so we can take these tough steps to ensure discipline at the national camp. We don't want to hurt chances of good wrestlers but they need to understand that they can't take things for granted," he added.
The WFI has a reason to feel worried since at least four Indian wrestlers, including two at the cadet level, have been caught for doping since 2016. For each offence during an international tournament, the WFI had to shell out 20,000 Swiss Francs as fine to the global governing body of the game — United World Wrestling (UWW). "We want our wrestlers to train at the camp so that the wrestlers do not even think of taking any banned substance," he said.