NEW DELHI: The Mission Olympic Cell (MOC) of the Sports Ministry has approved the requests put forth by wrestlers Bajrang Punia and Deepak Punia to be excused from the World Championships trials after receiving the necessary fitness certificates, permitting them to train abroad until the Asian Games.
The Sports Authority of India (SAI) had initially required Bajrang, an Olympic medallist, to participate in the World Championships trials or provide a fitness certificate to gain exemption from the trials scheduled in Patiala this week.
Bajrang sought to bypass the trials for the World Championships set for August 25 and 26. Instead, he aimed to train in a foreign location to adequately prepare for the upcoming Asian Games in Hangzhou, which is scheduled to commence on September 23.
Both Bajrang and Deepak, a gold medallist in the Commonwealth Games, have expressed their reluctance to compete in the World Championships in Belgrade from September 16. They aspire to utilise extended training periods to effectively gear up for the Asian Games.
"On 18th August Bajrang's proposal to train in Kyrgyzstan from 21st August to 28th September (39 days) along with coach, strength & conditioning expert, physiotherapist and sparring partner was put up for discussion in a wrestling sub-committee meeting, where Olympian Deepak Punia's proposal for training camp in Russia from 23rd August to 28th September (35 days) along with his coach & physiotherapist was also discussed," the SAI said in a statement on Tuesday.
"During the discussion, the committee gave in-principle approval to both Bajrang and Deepak's proposal subject to providing a fitness certificate before going abroad along with a justifiable reason for not participating in Senior World Championship Trials.
"Following this, Bajrang vide email on August 19th gave his reasons for not participating in World Championships trials. Additionally, medical fitness assessment was conducted by SAI on August 21st at NCOE Sonepat wherein he has been declared fit to play/train in competitive sports," it said.
"Meanwhile, Deepak has also submitted his response and medical certificate on August 22nd. As the two have submitted the requisite documents, SAI has now requested the athletes to provide the dates for their travel. The tickets for the same will be booked on the first available flight as soon as their response is received."
While Bajrang has sent a proposal to train in Issyk-Kul, Kyrgyzstan (August 21-September 28), Deepak, on the other hand, wants to train in Khasavyurt (Russia) for five weeks (August 23 to September 28) to prepare for the Asian Games.
The World Championships is the first qualification tournament for the 2024 Paris Olympic Games and SAI is unhappy that two of the country's top wrestlers want to skip the trials and the showpiece event.
While Bajrang, the 65kg grappler, who won the 2020 Tokyo Olympics bronze, has also demanded physiotherapist Anuj Gupta, personal coach Sujeet Maan, strength and conditioning expert Kaazi Kiron Mustafa Hasan and sparring partner Jitender Kinha to accompany him, Deepak has requested the services of coach Kamal Malikov and physiotherapist Shubham Gupta for the training stints.
(With PTI inputs)
