Indian wrestling team for Zagreb Open named

13-member Indian squad to compete in Zagreb Open Ranking Series, including Aman Sehrawat, Deepak Punia and Sonam Malik. National championships in Jaipur from Feb 3-5.

A 13-member squad, including leading wrestlers like Aman Sehrawat, Deepak Punia and Sonam Malik, will take part in the Zagreb Open Ranking Series event, the first world ranking tournament of the year, from January 10 to 14.

Announcing the squad on January 2, Bhupender Singh Bajwa, the chairman of the ad-hoc committee running the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI), thanked the Ministry of External Affairs for its assistance in completing the visa formalities for the tour.

“We have ensured that India’s Olympic hopefuls will compete in their respective weight classes, with a 2kg weight allowance, in the first ranking event of the Olympic year. We are confident that they will make the most of the chance to prepare for the Asian Qualification Tournament in April and the World Qualification Tournament in May,” said Bajwa.

Meanwhile, the National championships, which could not be held last year due to different issues, will be conducted at the Railway Stadium in Jaipur from February 3 to 5.

Competitions will be held in 10 weight categories each in Greco-Roman, freestyle and women styles. Greco Roman competitions will be held on the opening day, followed by women and freestyle bouts.

Freestyle: Men: Aman Sehrawat (57kg), Yash Tushir (74kg), Deepak Punia (86kg), Vicky (97kg) and Sumit (125kg). Greco-Roman:Men: Gyanender (60kg), Neeraj (67kg), Vikas (77kg), Sunil Kumar (87kg), Narinder Cheema (97kg) and Naveen (130kg); Women: Sonam Malik (62kg) and Radhika (68kg).