Tokyo Olympics 2020: Kyrgyzstan government postpones Asian Olympic wrestling qualifiers amid coronavirus outbreak

The Asian Olympic Wrestling Qualifiers, slated to begin next month in Bishkek, have been postponed following a directive by the Kyrgyzstan government. There is no update on the rescheduled time and venue for the qualifiers as of now. [caption id=“attachment_5994581” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Representational image. Reuters[/caption] All sporting events in the country have been stopped and postponed amid coronavirus (COVID 19) outbreak, according to Kyrgyzstan government’s directive. However, as per the Iranian Wrestling Federation, the event will now take place in April. The threat becomes more significant with travel restrictions imposed on a number of Asian nations to prevent the spread of the deadly virus. The competition was originally slated to be held in the Chinese city of Xi’an in March but was shifted to Bishkek due to the outbreak of coronavirus in the country. Indian had named a 14-member squad for the Qualifiers scheduled from 27 to 29 March in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan. Vinesh Phogat, Bajrang Punia, Ravi Kumar Dahiya and Deepak Punia have already qualified for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Some of the other promising Indian names who could book their berths for the Tokyo 2020 Games are Sunil Kumar, Divya Kakran, Sonam Malik and Jitender Kumar.