Sakshi Malik’s Olympic hopes come alive as fresh trials are to be conducted in the 62 kg category

What's the story?

The Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) has decided to conduct fresh trials in two divisions, to select women wrestlers for the Asian Olympic qualifiers. This has given Sakshi Malik a ray of hope to participate in the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games.

In case you didn’t know

The matches of the Asian qualifying event will be played from March 27 to 29 in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan. The earlier venue for the event was Xian but was called off due to the flare-up of the coronavirus.

The heart of the matter

Sakshi Malik, who had won a bronze at the Rio Olympics, has been in poor form lately. Sonam Malik had the better of her during the 62 kg trials but was unable to clinch a medal at the Asian Wrestling Championships. Sakshi Malik is now given another chance by the WFI to book her berth in the Indian team for the upcoming quadrennial event in Tokyo.

The WFI assistant secretary Vino Tomar told the The Times of India, “We have made a decision. The trials will be held in 62kg and 76kg on February 26 in Lucknow for women. These are the only categories that could not win any medal. We have also decided to hold fresh trials for the 60kg category in Greco Roman style.”

What’s next?

Sakshi Malik needs to give her best at the trials to set her hopes of qualifying for the Tokyo spectacle. Expectations are high from the young wrestler to secure an Olympic medal.

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