Decision on dates for holding wrestling World Championship trials after August 1: Ad-hoc panel member

The Indian Olympic Association-appointed ad-hoc panel for wrestling will likely announce the dates for holding trials and criteria for the World Championships between August 1 and 3 after getting a clarity on the number of nominations being filed for the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) elections. “The last date for filing nominations is July 31, so by August 1, we should get clarity on how many candidates are contesting for respective posts. If there is just a single candidate for each post, it is my thinking that the reins of the WFI will be handed over to the new office-bearers by August 1,” said Gian Singh, a member of the ad-hoc committee on Thursday. “The elected body will then decide on when to hold trials for the World Championships and it will have enough time to do so. But if there is more than one nomination for every post, then the elected members will be known on August 12, the day the WFI elections are scheduled.” In the event, the ad-hoc body will decide on the World Championships trial dates before August 3 in order to give adequate time to the wrestlers to train and appear for trials by August 10. “If the new body takes charge on August 12, then how can they take a call on the trials as the last date for sending entries for the Worlds is August 16. There will be no time left by then,” he said. The World Championship is scheduled to be held in Belgrade, Serbia from September 16-24. The World Championships trials are expected to be held by August 10, giving the wrestlers, who competed in the Asian Games selection competition (July 22-23), just about 17 days to be ready for another gruelling contest. The ad-hoc committee member added that the wrestlers’ demand to hold the Worlds trials on or after August 20, as they need time to recover from the Asian Games trials, was “not feasible”. “With the last date for sending entries for the Worlds closing on August 16, how can we send the names after August 20?” he said. The wrestlers, who had recently won the Asian Games trials on July 22-23, had on Wednesday requested the IOA ad-hoc panel and the Sports Ministry to not conduct the World Championship trials before August 20, saying repeating the painful and tedious process of weight-cut could lead to injuries ahead of the big-ticket event. Mansi Ahlawat (women’s 57kg), who shocked World Championship medallist Sarita Mor in the trials on July 22, Vishal Kaliraman (men’s 65kg), Aman Sehrawat (men’s 57kg), Pooja Gehlot (women’s 50kg), Vicky (men’s 92kg), Sunil (Greco Roman 87kg ) and Narinder Cheema (Greco Roman 97kg) have all made similar requests. Antim Panghal (53kg), Radhika (62kg) and Kiran (76kg) have also written mails to the authorities. The letter has also been marked to Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The delay in announcing the date and criteria for the Asian Games trials by the Bhupender Singh Bajwa-led IOA ad-hoc panel had kept the hopefuls in a tight spot and it did affect their performance. “Losing weight (to conform to respective weight categories) affects our performance and health and it will increase the chance of injury. We just lost weight for the Asian Games trials and now it would not be possible for us to lose weight again and compete in the trials within 10-15 days (of Asian Games trials),” the letter read. Experts also say that the body needs at least 10 days to recover from the impact of weight loss and subsequent competition. The panel is also yet to announce the criteria for the World Championship trials, and all the major decisions will likely be taken after July 31 when the WFI nominations close.