The Indian wrestling community have been in the news for the wrong reasons for most of 2023.
Amid protests against suspended Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) president Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh by several frontline wrestlers like Bajrang Punia for alleged molestation charges against women wrestlers, the body was provisionally suspended the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) primarily for not conducting its elections on time by the United World Wrestling (UWW), the world governing organisation for the sport.
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“The UWW Disciplinary Chamber decided on Wednesday that it had sufficient grounds to impose the provisional suspension on the body as the situation in the federation has prevailed for at least six months. The Chamber noted that the absence of a regularly elected president and a board does not comply with the UWW regulations and the conditions for membership,” the statement from UWW read.
However, the suspension did not come without prior warning. UWW had earlier expressed strong disapproval of the detention of India's prominent wrestlers including Vinesh Phogat, Bajrang Punia, and Sakshi Malik, just hours before a Mahila Mahapanchayat (women's conclave) was scheduled to take place near the newly-inaugurated Parliament building in May as a mark of protest against Singh.
The UWW condemned their detention and issued a warning to the national governing body, stating that it might suspend the federation if it fails to conduct its election within the specified timeframe of 45 days.
The election was supposed to be held on 12 August but it did not take place due to several reasons. Hence on August 24, UWW suspended WFI.
Will India be able to participate in the Asian Games?
The wrestlers will participate in the Asian Games which is being held in Hangzhou, China. They will be able to play under the India flag as the entries for the Asian Games were sent by India Olympic Association (IOA) and not the WFI.
What is the Indian wrestling squad for the 2023 Asian Games?
The Indian wrestling team for the Asian Games 2023 will be led by Bajrang Punia (men’s 65kg) and Vinesh Phogat (women’s 53kg) but Tokyo Olympic silver medallist Ravi Dahiya failed to make the cut after a first-round exit in the trials.
While Punia and Vinesh Phogat received direct entries to the Games, trials were still conducted in their respective categories to determine standbys.
Vishal Kaliraman will be the standby for Punia in the 65kg division after winning the final against Rohit. While Antim Panghal will be a standby for Phogat.
In the men's 86kg category, Olympian Deepak Punia beat Jonty in the final to qualify.
The men's freestyle section saw Yash, Vicky, and Sumit claim the slots in the 74kg, 97kg, and 125kg categories, respectively.
In the women's category, Sarita Mor and Anshu Malik will miss the flight to Guangzhou. Mor secured a victory against Anshu in the women's 57kg category but was later defeated by Mansi Ahlawat in the semi-finals.
Pooja Gehlot, who won the bronze medal at the Commonwealth Games, earned the ticket in the 50kg category, while Sonam Malik won the 62kg trials.
Another Olympic medallist in Sakshi Malik will not travel to the Asian Games after she abstained from competing in the trials.
In the 68kg, Radhika won the trials while Kiran beat Divya Kakran in the 76 kg category.
MORE: Why were Vinesh Phogat, Bajrang Punia exempted from Asian Games trials?
Asian Games 2023 Indian wrestling team - full squad
Greco-Roman
- Gyanender - 60kg
- Neeraj - 67kg
- Vikash - 77kg
- Sunil Kumar - 87kg
- Narinder Cheema - 97kg
- Naveen - 130kg
Women’s freestyle
- Pooja Gehlot - 50kg
- Vinesh Phogat - 53kg (Antim Panghal standby)
- Mansi Ahlawat - 57kg
- Sonam Malik - 62kg
- Radhika - 68kg
- Kiran - 76kg
Men’s freestyle
- Aman Sehrawat - 57kg
- Bajrang Punia - 65kg (Vishal Kaliraman standby)
- Yash - 74kg
- Deepak Punia - 86kg
- Vicky - 97kg
- Sumit - 125kg
