No Asian Games trials for Bajrang Punia and Vinesh Phogat
Olympic medalist Bajrang Punia and World Championship medalist Vinesh Phogat received direct admission for the Asian Games on Tuesday. This decision was made without consulting the national chief coaches, which has not gone down too well with the latter and is likely to be challenged in court.
In a circular, the IOA ad-hoc panel stated that it had already chosen wrestlers for the men's freestyle 65 kg and women's 53 kg events, but that trials would still be placed in all six weight divisions for each of the three styles.
Bajrang and Vinesh were not mentioned by the ad-hoc panel in the circular, but panellist Ashok Garg told PTI that the two wrestlers had been excused from the trials. The decision was made just four days prior to the tryouts to choose the wrestling team for the Asian Games, which are set to begin on September 23 in the Chinese city of Hangzhou.
At the IG Stadium in New Delhi, the men's freestyle trials will take place on July 23, while the greco-roman and women's freestyle trials are set on July 22. The 65kg wrestler, Bajrang, is now undergoing training in Issyk-Kul, Kyrgyzstan. He was one of the six protesting wrestlers at Jantar Mantar calling for Brij Bhushan's arrest.
Vinesh, a 53-kg wrestler who captured the gold medal at the 2018 Asian Games in Jakarta, is presently undergoing training there. However, the decision to exclude Bajrang and Vinesh has angered rivals, who have vowed to file a lawsuit.