Narsingh Yadav will lead the Indian side in the absence of ace Indian wrestlers in the year’s first wrestling ranking series, Zagreb Open, which will begin in the Croatian capital from Wednesday.
Leading Indian wrestlers Bajrang Punia and Ravi Kumar Dahiya will not compete in the tournament. Along with the two medalists from the Tokyo Olympics, notable Indian athletes who won’t compete in Croatia include top women’s wrestler Vinesh Phogat, medalist from the world championships Deepak Punia, Anshu Malik, Bajrang’s wife Sangeeta Phogat, and Sarita Mor. Sujeet will be fighting in the 65kg division, which belongs to Bajrang Punia, while Aman will be filling in for Tokyo silver medalist Ravi Dahiya in the men’s 57kg division. India’s entry in the women’s 53kg – Vinesh Phogat’s category will be Sushma Shokeen as per the Olympic website.
A 29-person Indian wrestling team has been registered by United World Wrestling (UWW) for the Zagreb Open.
Along with Greco-Roman wrestling, the Zargreb event will feature action in men’s and women’s freestyle on February 5.
Twelve Greco-Roman wrestlers, seven women’s freestyle wrestlers, and ten men’s freestyle wrestlers are representing India at Zagreb.
Indian team for Zagreb Open Ranking Series
Men’s freestyle
Aman (57kg), Pankaj Malik (61kg), Sujeet (65kg), Vishal Kaliramana (70kg), Sagar Jaglan and Narsingh Yadav (74kg), Vicky (86kg), Pruthviraj Patil (92kg), Sahil Sehrawat (97kg), Dinesh Dhankar (125kg)
Women’s freestyle
Shivani Pawar (50kg), Sushma Shokeen (53kg), Sito (57kg), Bhateri (65kg), Radhika (68kg), Reetika (72kg), Kiran (76kg)
Greco-Roman
Manjeet (55kg), Gyanender (60kg), Sagar (63kg), Karanjit Singh and Ashu (67kg), Ankit Gulia (72kg), Sajan (77kg), Rohit Dahiya (82kg), Sunil Kumar and Sushant (87kg), Narinder Cheema (97kg) and Naveen (130kg). (ANI)
