Olympic bound Indian wrestlers' camp in Warsaw

NEW DELHI: A month-long training-cum-exposure camp for the Olympic Games bound freestyle wrestlers is scheduled to commence in Warsaw, Poland, next week, a Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) official said on Sunday.

Eight freestyle wrestlers, including four women, have qualified for the Tokyo Olympics, starting on July 23.

"We are working on the European exposure tour for the core group of wrestlers. The Indian team will also compete in the World Ranking Series in Warsaw from June 8 to 13. Hopefully, the team would leave next week," WFI assistant secretary Vinod Tomar told IANS.

"After the ranking series, Indian team will also attend a coaching camp in Poland. The Indian team would return in the first week of July," he said.

In the second week of April, the Sports Authority of India (SAI) had closed both the men and women's camps, in Sonepat and Lucknow respectively, due to a surge in coronavirus cases.

"We recently sent a fresh proposal to the SAI for the conduct of the camps for those who have qualified for the Olympics, but it was not approved due to the prevailing pandemic," said Tomar.

While Bajrang Punia, who has qualified in the 65kg freestyle event, would train in Russia as part of his preparation for the Olympics, the seven other wrestlers would compete in the Polish World Ranking Series.

Ravi Dahiya (57kg), Deepak Punia (86kg), and Sumit Malki (125kg) are the other freestyle wrestlers who have qualified for the Olympics.

Among the women, Vinesh Phogat, who has booked her Olympic ticket in the 53kg, is training in Hungary, three other wrestlers -- Seema Bisla (50kg), Anshu Malik (57kg) and Sonam Malik (63kg) -- have preferred to train with their personal coaches in India. IANS

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