Bajrang Punia is among several elite wrestlers to miss national selection trials for Asian Wrestling Championships

Olympic bronze medalist Bajrang Punia and two-time Olympian Vinesh Phogat are among India’s elite wrestlers to skip national selection trials, scheduled for Friday and Saturday at the Indira Gandhi Indoor Sports Complex in New Delhi.

The men’s trials for next month’s Asian Wrestling Championships will be held on Friday, while the women’s national selection trials will take place on Saturday.

The Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) has been suspended due to allegations of sexual harassment against WFI officials. The national selection trials will thus be conducted under the observation of the Oversight Committee constituted by the Sports Ministry in January to oversee the day-to-day functioning of the WFI.

Punia is recovering from a wrist injury, while Vinesh will skip the national selection trials due to personal reasons, a senior wrestling coach familiar with the development told Sportskeeda on Thursday.

“Ravi Dahiya, the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games silver medalist in men’s 57kg freestyle category will also be doubtful for the national selection trials on Friday,” the wrestling coach added.

Since the WFI is not functioning, the oversight committee announced the national selection criteria last week for the Asian Wrestling Championships to be held in Astana, Kazakhstan from April 7 to 15.

The 2023 continental wrestling championship was allotted to India, but was shifted to Astana due to WFI's temporary suspension by the Sports Ministry.

Deepak Punia, the 2019 world silver medalist, is expected to compete in the men’s 86kg freestyle event. The 2016 Rio Olympic Games bronze medalist, Sakshi Malik, will also skip the national selection trials on Saturday, the wrestling coach said.

“It is premature to confirm how many top wrestlers will compete in the national selection trials this weekend in Delhi,” the wrestling coach said. “The United World Wrestling (UWW), the world governing body in wrestling, has made it mandatory for all national federations to compete in the continental competitions.”

Countries who don’t take part in continental competitions aren’t eligible to compete in the 2023 World Wrestling Championships, which is a qualification event for the 2024 Paris Olympic Games.