Wrestling ad-hoc panel confirms it will hold trials as scheduled

The wrestling ad-hoc committee has decided to go ahead with the trials to pick the wrestlers for the upcoming Asian Championships and Continental Olympic Qualifiers despite United World Wrestling (UWW) saying that it will only accept entries for international competitions from the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI).

WFI has been suspended by the Sports Ministry and an ad-hoc committee set up by the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) is running the affairs of wrestling in India but UWW on Friday said that no other entity can perform WFI's role.

Paying no heed to the diktat, the ad-hoc committee on Saturday said that trials “will be held as scheduled” and the “entries for competition will be sent by the WFI”.

The ad-hoc committee will hold the trials for the two continental tournaments, to be held in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, on March 10 and 11 in Sonipat and Patiala.

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The trials will be held at SAI Sonipat for male grapplers (freestyle and greco-roman), and at NIS Patiala for women wrestlers.

“Yes, the trials will go ahead as scheduled in Sonepat and Patiala,” an ad-hoc panel official told PTI on Saturday.

“There is no problem with that. UWW has already asked for entries to be sent. The WFI cannot organise the trials in the first place because of the (Delhi) High Court order.

“The officials of the ad-hoc committee will be in Sonepat tomorrow and no one will stop the entries (of selected wrestlers) from going to UWW,” the official added.

Asked about the UWW letter that only WFI was authorised to send entries, the official said, “the entries have always gone through their (WFI) login and will go from their login now also for the two continental events.”

UWW had on Friday supported the WFI, which is under suspension by the sports ministry since December last year for violating its own constitution, said it will accept entries for international competitions only from the sport’s national body and no other entity.

The UWW stand has come a day after the Delhi High Court asked the ad-hoc panel to organise the trials for the Asian Championships and Continental Olympic Qualifiers as the WFI told the court that it will withdraw its circular related to the trials in New Delhi on March 10-11.

The court ruling came while responding to a plea from elite wrestlers Bajrang Punia, Vinesh Phogat and Sakshi Malik, who contended that WFI can’t conduct trials since it remains suspended by the sports ministry.

The WFI had issued a circular on February 26 calling for national trials on March 10 and 11 at the IG Stadium here after the UWW had lifted the suspension on the national body.

Olympic medallist Bajrang, one of the four wrestlers, who approached the High Court, confirmed to PTI that he will appear for the trails in men’s 65kg category.

“I have trained well in Russia. I spent about 50 days there, and I feel well prepared for the trials,” Bajrang said.

Sources also confirmed that Vinesh Phogat will return to the women’s 50kg category.

Antim Panghal has already earned a quota in women’s 53kg category, a weight class that Vinesh made her own with scintillating performances before the protest against former WFI president Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh.

With PTI inputs