Ravi Kumar Dahiya, Bajrang Punia, Sakshi Malik part of wrestling camp for Commonwealth Games, Asian Games-bound wrestlers

Olympic medal-winning wrestling stars Ravi Kumar Dahiya, Bajrang Punia and Sakshi Malik will be part of a 91-day training camp for wrestlers participating in the Commonwealth Games and the Asian Games.

The Olympic medal-winning wrestlers will be joined by World Championships medallists Anshu Malik and Vinesh Phogat along with 124 other Indian wrestlers.

The 91-day training camp is organized by the Sports Authority of India (SAI) at their Sonepat and Lucknow centers. The camp commenced on April 1 and is set to continue until June 30. A total of 147 campers, including 124 (Freestyle and Greco-Roman) wrestlers along with 23 coaches and support staff, are a part of the camp.

Read: WFI refutes wrestler Bajrang Punia's claim of non-availability of physiotherapist

While 75 wrestlers from the men’s wrestling team will train in SAI Sonepat (Freestyle and Greco Roman) while 49 wrestlers of the women's team will train at SAI Lucknow.

Government to bear full cost of wrestling camp

The camps will consist of athletes who recently won selection trials for the upcoming Asian Championship, winners of the Open National Ranking Tournament, and the medallists of last year’s Senior Nationals.

The government will bear the full cost of ₹2.30 crores for the men’s camp in SAI Sonepat and ₹1.43 cores for the Women’s training camp in SAI Lucknow.

This includes the costs of travel, lodging, boarding, food, sports kits, insurance and salaries of coaches and support staff amongst others.

Meanwhile, a new-look Indian women's freestyle wrestling squad will compete at next month’s Asian Wrestling Championships in Mongolia. Along with Tokyo Olympian Anshu Malik and Sarita Mor, eight other wrestlers will compete at the senior Asian level for the first time.

Two-time Olympian and 2018 Jakarta Asian Games champion Vinesh Phogat will not be a part of the Asian Championships after the star wrestler pulled out of the national selection trials due to fitness issues. Promising wrestler Sonam Malik's back injury also forced her to withdraw from the trials and subsequently will not be a part of the Asian Championships.