Bajrang Punia, Ravi Dahiya lose Wrestling trials; out of qualification race for Paris Olympics 2024
Bajrang Punia and Ravi Dahiya would not be a part of the Indian team for the Paris Olympics to be held later this year after they lost their respective bouts at the Sports Authority of India (SAI) center in Sonipat. The Indian Olympic Association ad-hoc panel conducted the trials.
Bajrang, who won the bronze medal in the Tokyo Olympics two and a half years ago, lost 8-10 to U20 Asian Champion Udit in the selection trials.
Thereafter, he left the venue without waiting for the results of the dope tests conducted by the National Anti-Doping Agency (NADA).
In the last 12 months, Bajrang led the protests against now-former Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh. The likes of Sakshi Malik and Vinesh Phogat also protested along with Bajrang.
Dahiya, who won the Tokyo silver medal, fell out of selection trials after losing consecutive matches in the men's 57 kg trials.
The 57 kg trials were conducted in the Nordic format and not the direct knockout format. Dahiya lost to Aman Sehrawat 13-14 in a closely-fought affair. Sehrawat, who bagged international medals for India last year, also won the 57 kg trials.
The winners of the selections will now ply their trade for the Indian team in the Asian Championships to be held in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan from April 19 to 21. The players will then head to Istanbul where they will take part in the World Olympic Qualifiers from May 9 to 12.
Antim Panghal is the only Indian wrestler to have earned an Olympic quota until now.
Wrestling Trials: Winners on Day 1
Men’s freestyle
Sujeet Kalakal (65 kg), Aman Sehrawat (57 kg), Jaideep (74 kg), Deepak Nehra (97 kg), Deepak Punia (86 kg), Sumit Malik (125 kg)
Greco Roman
Naveen (130 kg), Sumeet (60 kg), Sunil Kumar (87 kg), Vikas (77 kg), Ashu (66 kg).