WFI names unchanged wrestling squad for Olympic Qualifiers in Istanbul

The Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) has named almost the same squad that competed in the Asian Qualifiers in Bishkek for the final Olympic Qualifying tournament in Istanbul next month due to paucity of time to conduct fresh trials.

The squad for the World Olympic Games Qualifiers (WOGQ) in Istanbul from May 9-13 will remain the same, except leaving out three wrestlers — 2018 Asian Games gold medallist Vinesh Phogat (50kg), Anshu Malik (57kg) and U23 world champion Reetika (76kg) — as they had sealed quota places in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, last month.

It is learnt that the WFI was unhappy with the poor show by the Indian men’s team in Bishkek and was planning to conduct fresh trials to select the team for the final Olympic qualifying event.

ALSO READ | UWW threatens to suspend WFI again in case of Centre’s intervention

Indian grapplers stand a good chance of clinching a few more Paris Games berths in Istanbul as 54 Olympic quota places in each of the six weight classes of the three wrestling styles are up for grabs.

“Every weight category offers three Paris Olympic spots — one each to the two finalists and one to the winner of the playoff between the two bronze medallists,” said United World Wrestling (UWW) in a statement on Monday.

“Greco-Roman will kick off the competition on May 9 followed by women’s wrestling and freestyle finishing it on May 13,” the UWW statement added.