After a disappointing 2024 season, the senior Asian Championships will provide an opportunity for Indian wrestlers like Antim Panghal and Deepak Punia to make a fresh start.
Wrestler Deepak Punia's foreign coach Murad Gaidarov was expelled from the Tokyo Olympics on Friday for assaulting the referee who officiated the bronze medal play-off bout which the Indian lost to San Marino's Myles Nazim Amine.
'We will give him a grand welcome on his return'
Wrestlers have the opportunity to win more quota places at the Asian qualifiers and World Qualifiers this year.
World Championship silver medallist wrestler Deepak Punia has jumped to World No 1 position in the 86kg but Bajrang Punia lost the top rank in the 65kg category in the latest rankings.
They have been moved to a SAI empanelled hospital as a precautionary measure for further monitoring.
World silver winner Deepak Punia, making a transition from junior to senior circuit, and Rahul Aware, who won a bronze in Nur Sultan, are deserving candidates for the Arjuna Award.
He will now clash with Switzerland's Stefan Reichmuth for a place in the gold medal match.
The Target Olympic Podium Scheme (TOPS) Core group has been updated with the inclusion of rising stars like Samrat Rana and Gulveer Singh, while some established athletes have been dropped due to performance issues.
The Target Olympic Podium Scheme (TOPS) Core group has been updated, with rising stars like Samrat Rana and Gulveer Singh joining, while underperforming athletes such as H.S. Prannoy and Deepak Punia have been dropped.
Aman, who won a bronze medal at the Paris Games last year, was found overweight by 1.7kg during the weigh-in ahead of the men's freestyle 57kg competition.
World Championships medallists Deepak Punia and Antim Panghal were among 30 Indian wrestlers selected for the Senior Asian Championships to be held in Amman, Jordan from March 25-30.
India's Deepak Punia and Udit reached the final of the 92 and 61 categories, respectively, at the Senior Asian Wrestling Championships in the Jordanian capital, Amman, on Sunday.
Vijay Amritraj gets Padma Bhushan; Rohit Sharma, Harmanpreet Kaur receive Padma Shri
Indian wrestlers return with six medals
Olympian Deepak Punia skipped the national trials, in Patiala on Saturday.
Deepak usually stuns his rivals with his speed and agility but Dauletbekov was up for the task and smartly foiled the Indian's leg attacks by maintaining distance.
Punia is planning to skip the trials for the World Championships on August 25 and 26 and instead wants to train at a foreign location to prepare for the Asian Games
Such was Tokyo Olympics bronze medallist Bajrang's dominance in the 65kg competition that he won three of his four bouts inside first rounds.
Deepak Punia becomes World Champion wrestler, bronze for Viky
Wrestlers Bajrang Punia and Vinesh Phogat met former Congress president Rahul Gandhi in New Delhi on Wednesday amid speculation that the two star grapplers could be fielded in the Haryana assembly polls by the party.
India's men's freestyle wrestlers endured a tough day in the field as all five in action on Saturday bowed out of the Asian Championships.
India record best-ever show at World Wrestling Championships with five medals
Punia had trained in Russia to prepare for the trials, which are being organised by the IOA ad-hoc panel.
Ravi Kumar Dahiya became only the second Indian wrestler to win a silver medal at the Olympics after losing in the men's Freestyle 57kg title round 4-7 to reigning World champion Zavur Uguev, in Chiba, Japan, on Thursday.
Aman Sehrawat missed out on securing a berth for the Paris Games after losing his semi-final at the Asian Olympic Qualifier.
The last three years in Deepak Punia's life still sounds like a dream.
India will go unrepresented in five categories at the upcoming Zagreb Open in Croatia as Bajrang Punia, Antim Panghal and three others didn't give consent for their selection to the ad-hoc panel that announced a 13-member team on Tuesday.
India's champion athletes returned to a rousing reception when they landed home on Tuesday after their spectacular showing at the 2022 Commonwealth Games.
Aware is the fifth Indian wrestler to test positive for the dreaded virus after Vinesh Phogat, Deepak Punia, Navin and Krishan.
Aman Sehrawat is the first Indian male wrestler to secure berth for the Paris Olympic Games
The protesting wrestlers on Friday reached out to Indian Olympic Association (IOA), demanding formation of an inquiry committee to probe the allegations of sexual harassment they have levelled against WFI president Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh.
Indian wrestler Aman Sehrawat came up with a commanding performance to bag the gold medal in the Zagreb Open Ranking Series tournament, defeating China's world No. 7 Wanhao Zou 10-0 in Zagreb.
WFI obtains accreditation of Vinesh Phogat's coach and physio for Asia Olympic qualifier
Star wrestlers Bajrang Punia and Vinesh Phogat's request to train in Kyrgyzstan and Poland respectively was approved by TOPS.
Bajrang Punia, Vinesh Phogat, Sarita Mor and Sakshi Malik, who staged a sit-in protest at Jantar Mantar for three days demanding the sacking of the WFI president, posted identical tweets on the micro-blogging site, expressing their dismay.
Phogat and Punia joined the party in the presence of Congress general secretary KC Venugopal, spokesperson Pawan Khera and Haryana Congress chief Uday Bhan.
Ravi Dahiya will be aiming for a historic gold medal in the men's wrestling freestyle 57kg event at the Tokyo Olympics on Thursday.
Mohit Kumar on Wednesday became the first Indian wrestler to win junior world champion since 2019.
The morning session was halted for more than two hours.
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