Bajrang Punia, Antim Panghal among wrestlers skipping Zagreb Open

Bajrang Punia is among the four wrestlers who have withdrawn from the Zagreb Open, with the ad-hoc panel in charge of the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) announcing a 13-member team for the upcoming event.

Besides Tokyo Olympics bronze medallist Punia, two-time U20 world champion Antim Panghal is the other big name to miss out on the trip to the Croatian capital. Panghal, who won bronze in the World Championships as well as the Asian Games recently, is skipping the event to attend the National Sports Awards where she will be conferred with the Arjuna Award.

Punia, who is among the key members in the ongoing protest against the WFI and former president Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, stated that he isn’t ready for the tournament yet and is the only male wrestler in the freestyle category who won’t be in action in the upcoming event.

Read | Bajrang Punia returns Padma Shri after Brij Bhushan’s aide wins WFI election

The IOA-appointed ad-hoc panel named Aman Sehrawat (57kg), Yash (74kg), Deepak Punia (86kg), Vicky (97kg) and Sumit Malik (125kg) — all of whom participated in the Hangzhou Asian Games — in the team.

“We had sought the consent of the wrestlers who were part of the Asian Games squad and only 13 gave their consent while five others didn’t,” Bhupinder Singh Bajwa, the head of the ad-hoc panel, told PTI.

When asked about his absence, Bajrang said he has not yet started mat training, so it was futile to be part of the Indian team.

“I had recently undergone a thumb surgery. I have not yet started mat training. There is no point going to a tournament without proper practice. I have resumed fitness training though,” Bajrang told PTI.

Panghal, who had won a bronze medal at the Asian Games, was not available for a comment but her coach Vikas Bhardwaj said that she has opted out of the tournament because her ward has to attend the sports awards ceremony on 9 January, a day before the competition starts in Zagreb.

The team for the first world-ranking tournament in the Croatian capital, which will be held from 10 to 14 January, was picked after issues related to procurement of visas had been looked into.

Panghal (53kg), Pooja Gehlot (50kg), Mansi Ahlawat (57kg), Kiran (76kg), who were part of the Indian team which competed in Hangzhou, also didn’t give their consent, forcing the ad-hoc body to select just two wrestlers in women’s freestyle — Sonam Malik (62kg) and Radhika (68kg) for the Ranking Series event.

The WFI is being run by a three-member committee constituted by the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) after the Sports Ministry suspended the Sanjay Singh-led newly-elected national federation owing to violation of its own constitution.

“Thanks to a timely intervention by the Ministry of External Affairs, the 25 Indians due to travel to Zagreb will complete the visa formalities on Wednesday,” Bajwa said in a press release.

“The team was facing difficulty in securing a visa appointment. However, the Ministry of External Affairs has helped the team in this regard.”

The team:

Men Freestyle: Aman (57kg); Yash (74kg), Deepak Punia (86kg), Vicky (97kg) and Sumit (125kg).

Greco-Roman: Gyanender (60kg), Neeraj (67kg), Vikas (77kg), Sunil Kumar (87kg), Narinder Cheema (97kg) and Naveen (130kg).

Women’s Freestyle: Sonam (62kg) and Radhika (68kg).

Coaching and support staff: Kuldeep Singh (team leader and coach), Vinod Kumar, Sujeet, Shashi Bhushan Prasad, Manoj Kumar, Virender Singh and Alka Tomar (coaches); Vishal Kumar Rai (physiotherapist) and Neeraj (masseur).

Referees: Satya Dev Malik, Dinesh Dhondiba Gund and Sanjay Kumar.

With inputs from PTI