 "WFI national camp for senior wrestlers to be held after 15 months, Delhi likely to be named as hosts")
The Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) is planning to organise a national camp for senior wrestlers after almost 15 months, with Delhi likely to be the venue instead of Patiala due to the farmers’ dispute.
The national camps had been put on hold since January 2023, when three of India’s top wrestlers — Bajrang Punia, Sakshi Malik and Vinesh Phogat accused former WFI chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh of sexual harassment towards women wrestlers.
The ad-hoc committee, which had been assigned with managing day-to-day activities owing to the suspension of WFI, had begun training camps for men in Rohtak and women in Patiala after the conducting of the nationals in Jaipur.
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The WFI, after United World Wrestling (UWW) lifted its suspension , announced the trials to select the nationals teams for the Asian Wrestling Championships in Bishkek (April 11-16) and the Continental Olympic Qualifier in the Kyrgyzstan capital (April 19-21).
“After we conduct these trials, the top-four in each category will be invited to be part of the National camp,” WFI president Sanjay Singh told news agency PTI.
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More Shorts“We have not yet finalised the venues for the camps,” the sports administrator from Varanasi, added.
It has been learnt that the SAI centres in Sonepat will, as usual, be the venue for the men’s camp and the IG Stadium could host the women’s camp.
“The Lucknow SAI centre is out of question and we have to choose between Patiala and Delhi. As of today, the restriction on movement in and around of Punjab will make it a bit inconvenient for everyone to reach Patiala. So, probably, we can request the government to provide the IG Stadium for the women’s camp,” said a WFI source.
Who will compete in trials?
The four-best wrestlers at the recently concluded Nationals in Jaipur (conducted by the ad-hoc panel) and Pune (conducted by WFI), have been invited to compete in the trials.
Those who did not compete in either Nationals but are good performers will also be allowed to compete.
“We will invite not just the winners of the trials but also the finalists and the semifinalists for the national camp. If the runner-up or number 3-4 are not interested, which happens sometimes, then that camp spot will be offered to the next best wrestler and so on,” informed the source.
Age group nationals in Noida
It has also been learnt that the WFI has decided to conduct the U15 and U20 Nationals from March 28 to 30 in Noida.
The winners, finalists and the two semifinal winners will later be asked the join the National camp.
With PTI inputs
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