Wrestling
Sports Ministry to send Indian wrestlers for the Asian Championships
The team for the Asian Championships will be selected based on a 'talent hunt' on March 11 and 12.
Wrestler Aman Sehrawat is expected to feature in the 'talent hunt' ahead of the Asian Championships. (Photo credit: X)
The sports ministry has approved the wrestlers' plea to send an Indian team for the Asian Championships, and according to reports, the team for the same will be selected based on a 'talent hunt'.
“We are clear that the athletes’ interests will not be harmed. India will certainly compete at the Asian Championships,” a sports ministry official told Hindustan Times.
The Asian Championships, a mandatory tournament to secure qualification to the World Championships, will take place in Amman, Jordan from March 25th to 30th. This will be first competition this year for Indian wrestlers who have already missed two ranking series tournaments this year as they failed to get an approval from the sports ministry.
Several wrestlers and the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) president, Sanjay Singh, had previously sought the intervention of the Sports Minister Mansukh Mandaviya and had a meeting with him over the issue last month.
Final team selection
WFI had sent the same team that it had previously sent for the two ranking series to the ministry for approval. The ministry, however, directed WFI to “select the team by following proper procedures”.
Although the final date to send the entries was March 5, and despite WFI having tentatively sent names to seal the quota, the teams can make changes to the squad a week before the competition (March 18th).
The first step for the selection will be held in Jalandhar, Punjab, where the WFI will conduct the Federation Cup on March 8 and 9. Top wrestlers like Antim Panghal, Udit and Sujeet Kalkal could well enter this competition.
The top three finishers in each weight division from the Federation Cup and the national championships medalists will compete in a 'talent hunt' from which the final team for this Asian Meet will be selected.
“The talent hunt will be held on March 11 and 12 at New Delhi’s Indira Gandhi Stadium. There will be 4-6 wrestlers in each weight class across freestyle, Greco-Roman, and women categories,” Singh said.
