NEW DELHI: Leading wrestlers Bajrang Punia, Vinesh Phogat and Sakshi Malik, prominent faces of the protest against former WFI president Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, will have just two weeks to prepare for the trials for upcoming Asian Games. Sports minister Anurag Thakur informed on Thursday that the doors are open for the trio to participate in the selection meet because their names figure in the long list of Asiad probables.
According to sources, the Indian Olympic Association's (IOA) two-member ad-hoc committee, which has been tasked to run the day-to-day affairs of the WFI, has planned to hold the trials between June 22 and 25 at the KD Jadhav wrestling hall of the Indira Gandhi (IG) stadium here. The committee has decided to finalise the Indian wrestling squad for the Games, scheduled to be held in China's Hangzhou from September 23 to October 8, by the end of this month. The last date to send the final entries of athletes across disciplines is July 15.
On Thursday, two members were added to the ad hoc committee - coaches Gyan Singh and Ashok Garg - to provide technical assistance.
After Thakur's announcement that the process to elect the new executive council of the WFI will be completed by June 30, the committee has been left with little choice but to hold trials before the election date. It's the committee's mandate to conduct trials and not the new dispensation of the WFI, which will take charge after the June 30 elections.
The criteria will be set in such a way that all protesting wrestlers get a fair chance to appear in the trials. It's important to mention here that Sakshee's name wasn't originally part of the long list, but it was later added to the Asiad probables. Sources told TOI that medallists from Tokyo Olympics, Birmingham CWG, all UWW-sanctioned ranking series and other major international competitions will be allowed to appear for the trials. While Bajrang won a bronze in Tokyo, both Vinesh and Sakshee clinched gold medals in their respective weight categories at the CWG, making them eligible to compete.
Thakur on Thursday said that all national sports federations (NSFs) are looking to finalise the contingent well before the July 15 deadline. "We want the wrestlers to return to the mat and take part in competitions. The trials are very much open to them," he said.
The wrestlers have been out of practice for months. Some haven't participated since the World Championships in September last year while some last competed internationally as far back as Birmingham CWG in August.
Meanwhile, Thakur said India will return with its best-ever medal tally from the Hangzhou Asiad. "The improvement in facilities resulted in India's best-ever performance at the last Olympics, Paralympics, Deaflympics and CWG. We won a record number of medals and we will do similarly well at the Asian Games. I think India will have the best-ever performance at this year's Asian Games," Thakur said. "For the Asian Games preparation, the government has till now sanctioned over Rs 220 crore. The government has spent Rs 450 crore in the current Olympic cycle on training and equipment. We have approved proposals of TOPS group athletes worth Rs 45 crore," he added.
On the contentious issue of Singh's arrest as demanded by the wrestlers, Thakur said the law will take its own course. "I said yesterday as well, we had a very positive meeting with the protesting wrestlers. All the issues that they raised, we discussed and we have said that the chargesheet will be filed by June 15," he added.