New Delhi, July 27 (IANS) Wrestler Narsingh Yadav's provisional suspension from the Rio Olympic squad has opened the doors for rookie Parveen Kumar Rana to represent India at the 74kg weight category in the quadrennial extravaganza.
Narsingh, who was picked ahead of two time Olympic medallist Sushil Kumar, flunked the dope test on Sunday after which he was handed a provisional suspension.
The United World Wrestling (UWW) on Tuesday released an official statement which read: "Yadav, who qualified his nation for the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro at the 2015 World Championships in Las Vegas, has been provisionally suspended by the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) and is restricted from competing at the Rio Games."
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"United World Wrestling informed the Indian Olympic Association last week that since the positive test occurred outside of the qualification event they would be allowed replace Yadav with another wrestler, or else vacate the qualification spot."
"The Indian Olympic Association informed United World Wrestling of their desire to enter Parveen Rana as their nation's replacement at 74kg in men's freestyle," it further stated.
However, Rana's ticket to Rio will only be confirmed if Narsingh fails to convince the National Anti Doping Agency (NADA) panel on Wednesday.
If the panel finds Narsingh innocent, then the 26-year old's chances of going to Rio will increase. He has to only pass a dope test before flying to Rio.
Meanwhile, the 23-year-old Rana, who is a former junior world medallist, will head to Georgia with the India team on Wednesday and train with them for the remaining part before Rio Games.
--IANS
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