Wrestling ad-hoc body not to change criteria for Worlds trials after injury to Vinesh

The trial to select the team for the Worlds, which commence on September 16, will be held in Patiala on August 25-26.

FILE PHOTO: Vinesh Phogat in action. | Photo Credit: PTI

The IOA-constituted ad-hoc committee for wrestling has decided not to alter the criteria for the upcoming trials to select the team for the next month’s World Championships in Belgrade.

The trial to select the team for the Worlds, which commence on September 16, will be held in Patiala on August 25-26.

“The trials for the Worlds will be conducted in Patiala as per the schedule announced in all 10 weight categories in men’s freestyle, greco-roman and women’s wrestling,” said an ad-hoc committee member on condition of anonymity on Wednesday.

There was speculation that with Vinesh Phogat (53kg) pulling out of the Hangzhou Asian Games due to a knee injury and the Worlds trials, the ad-hoc panel might only conduct the exercise in four non-Olympic categories.

There are 10 weight categories in wrestling -- six Olympic and four non-Olympic -- and the trials in the former had been conducted on July 22-23 in New Delhi to select the team for the Asian Games in Hangzhou.

Several wrestlers, who had appeared in the July trials had opposed the Worlds trials, as they felt they wouldn’t be able to recover from the grind of the July exercise.

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The exercise to conduct two sets trials was undertaken to accommodate Vinesh and Olympic medallist Bajrang Punia, who had been exempted from the July exercise as they had sought more time to train after sitting on protest at Jantar Mantar.

While Vinesh is out due to injury, Bajrang too has maintained silence on his participation in the Worlds trials.

This had given rise to speculation that the trials in all six Olympic categories could be scrapped, and the exercise would be conducted in only four non-Olympic classes.

“All six wrestlers, including Bajrang, (who had protested at Jantar Mantar and had sought exemption from July trials) will get another opportunity to prove themselves.

“So far, we haven’t received their entries. We are waiting. This is a fresh exercise and should not be linked to the previous exercise which was done to select the team for the Asian Games,“ the panel member said.