Indian wrestlers not participate in Spanish Grand Prix due to visa delays
Indian wrestlers will no longer compete in Grand Prix of Spain 2022, which is set to take place in Madrid from July 8 to July 10, after skipping the Matteo Pellicone Ranking Series. The squad was eventually withdrawn since certain wrestlers needed to finish necessary paperwork to fly to Birmingham.
The procedure now appears to be ongoing and will prevent the nation's grapplers from competing at the Madrid competition as well. “The wrestlers will not compete in Spain as the visa process is still going on. Usually, they are called together but this time they are given appointments in batches, which is prolonging the process,” a WFI official told the New Indian Express.
It won't be possible for India to deploy a contingent to Spain in time for the meet since weekends and holidays add further time to the visa application procedure. Bajrang Punia, who won bronze in the Tokyo Olympics, had intended to fly to the USA to train at Michigan University before the Commonwealth Games, which begin on July 28, but it is anticipated that the delay in visa processing will prevent that. Deepak Punia, another wrestler from Tokyo, and two more Olympians are anticipated to join Bajrang there.
The CWG 2022 wrestling competitions will begin on August 5. At their separate national camps, the Indian grapplers are now getting ready for the 2019 Commonwealth Games. While the ladies have been receiving training at the SAI facility in Lucknow, the males have been based at the SAI Centre in Sonepat.
The Zouhaier Sghaier Ranking Series, which runs from July 14 to July 17, would provide Indian wrestlers with some much-needed competition practice if the necessary visa procedures are completed in a timely manner. To help compensate for missing two significant CWG-prep competitions, the WFI is also organizing an exposure tour for the Indian wrestlers traveling to Birmingham.
Comments
Sign up or log in to your account to leave comments and reactions
0 Comments