(Image source from: The Statesman)
Four Indian wrestlers are all set for the World Wrestling Championships scheduled to be held from September 14 to 22 in Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan.
Bajrang Punia has got the number one seeding in the category of men’s 65kg freestyle. He is at present India’s best hope at the championships.
Seema, who bagged gold at Yasar Dogu tournament, got the second seed in the 50kg category. The other seeded contenders are Rahul Aware, second in 61kg, and Deepak Punia, fourth in 86kg.
In the 74kg, it will also be interesting to see the return of veteran Sushil Kumar as he looks to relive his golden glory after nine years.
Veteran Indian wrestler is making a comeback after nine years in the category of 94kg.
The 25-year-old Bajrang progressed from a 60kg bronze in 2013 to a 65kg silver early this year. However, the elite wrestler is aiming to become only the second Indian after Sushil to win a gold in the competitions.
Climbing to the top in world rankings in wrestling, last year Sushil has been crowned champion of Asia. He says exposure trips have added to his intelligence and increased his ability to gauge the opponents more quickly.
"Training abroad with foreign athletes has helped me grow as a wrestler. Sparring with some of the best names in Georgia, Russia, and the USA has made me more aware of my opponents. Besides having my own team of coach, physio, trainer, and sports science support staff has benefited me a lot and instilled a lot of confidence into me ahead of the World Championships which is also an Olympic qualifier this time," Punia said.
Below Is the List of Indian Squad for the World Wrestling Championships:
Freestyle wrestling
57 Kg - Ravi Kumar, 61 Kg - Rahul Aware, 65 Kg - Bajrang Punia, 70 Kg - Karan, 74 Kg - Sushil Kumar, 79 Kg - Jitender, 86 Kg - Deepak Punia, 92 Kg - Parveen, 97 Kg - Mausam Khatri, 125 kg - Sumit.
Women's Wrestling
50 Kg - Seema, 53 Kg - Vinesh, 55 Kg - Lalita, 57 Kg - Sarita, 59 Kg - Pooja Dhanda, 62 Kg - Sakshi Malik, 65 Kg - Navjot Kaur, 68 Kg - Divya Kakran, 72 Kg - Komal Bhagwan Gole, 76 kg - Kiran.
Greco-Roman wrestling
55 Kg - Manjeet, 60 Kg - Manish, 63 Kg - Sagar, 67 Kg - Manish, 72 Kg - Yogesh, 77 Kg - Gurpreet Singh, 82 Kg - Harpreet Singh, 87 Kg - Sunil Kumar, 97 Kg - Ravi, 130 kg - Naveen.
By Sowmya Sangam
