NEW DELHI: Indian Olympic Association's (IOA) two-member ad-hoc committee on Wednesday decided to hold the much-awaited selection trials to pick the Indian wrestling contingent for the upcoming Asian Games in Hangzhou on July 22 and 23 at the K D Jadhav indoor complex of the Indira Gandhi (IG) stadium here.
While the trials in the men's greco-roman and women's freestyle disciplines will be held on July 22, the wrestlers in the men's freestyle division will take the mat the next day to book their places in the Asiad-bound team.
The ad-hoc body will hold trials in 18 Olympic weight categories - six each in three formats. It's been learnt that junior, U-20 and U-23 wrestlers in all the weight divisions, along with medallists in the last senior Nationals and the senior national ranking series, will be eligible to participate. India's U-15 and U-20 squads are in Jordan's Amman to compete in the Asian Championships.
The last date to send the wrestling entries by name to the organisers of the Asian Games is July 23. For all other participating disciplines, the last date is July 15. There is still n o confirmation whether the six protesting wrestlers - Bajrang Punia, Vinesh Phogat, Sakshee Malikkh, Sangeeta Phogat, Satyawart Kadian and Jitender Kinha - will compete in the trials.
Vinesh has confirmed her participation in the Polyak Imre & Varga Janos Memorial Ranking Series tournament scheduled from July 13 to 16 in Hungary's Budapest. It's been learnt that the names of six protesting wrestlers can be sent as reserves if they decide to skip the trials. Earlier, the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) had shot down the IOA's request to extend the deadline for submitting final entries of wrestlers by August 15.
