Ace women wrestlers Sakshi Malik and Vinesh Phogat on Friday made the cut in the Indian squad for the World Wrestling Championship to be held in Paris next month .
The other six women wrestlers included in the squad are Sheetal Tyagi, Lalita Sehrawat, Pooja Danda, Shilpi Sheoran, Navjot and Pooja.
A total of 24 wrestlers will travel to France to participate in men's freestyle, Greco Roman and women's categories.However, Asian Champion Bajrang Punia is still doubtful for the event after missing the trials.
The squad for the tournament was announced after the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) conducted selection trials across weight categories at the STC Lucknow here.
Meanwhile, the decision on Asian champion Bajrang Punia’s selection for the upcoming World Wrestling Championship has been postponed to next week due to health reasons. Sandeep Tomar, on the other hand, qualified in the free style 57 kg category.
“Wrestler Bajrang submitted an application to the WFI office requesting that he was unable to participate in the trials due to viral fever and that final trials in his weight category may be held after his recovery. The federation, after consulting with the chief coach, has decided that the final trial between Rahul Maan and Bajrang will be held next week and the winner selected for the World Championship,” the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) said in a statement.
In order to prepare best for the Worlds, the men will travel to Spain, starting July 13. It will include one event, followed by a one week training stint, before they head back to Sonepat to continue preparations.
Squad: Men: Freestyle: Sandeep Tomar (57kg), Harphool (61kg), Rahul Mann/Bajrang Punia (65kg), Amit Dhankar (70kg), Praveen Rana (74kg), Deepak (86kg), Satywart Kadiyan (97kg), Sumit (125kg).
Greco-Roman: Gyanender (59kg), Ravinder (66kg), Yogesh (71kg), Gurpreet Singh (75kg), Harpreet Singh (80kg), Ravinder Khatri (85kg), Hardeep (98kg), Naveen (130kg)
Women: Vinesh Phogat (48kg), Sheetal (53kg), Lalita (55kg), Pooja Dhanda (58kg), Sakshi Malik (60kg), Shilpi (63kg), Navjot Kaur (69kg), Pooja (75kg)