The Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) has decided to organize the men's 74kg freestyle wrestling trails as per schedule. Sushil Kumar urged WFI to postpone the trials due his injury. The star wrestler, however, may get a chance to qualify for the Tokyo Olympics in March. Sushil, who was struggling to revive his career, withdrew from the trials on Friday due to hand injury and urged WFI to postpone the trials of his class. The winner of the trials will get a place in the Indian team for the first ranking series tournament to be held in Rome from January 15 to 18, the Asian Championships to be held from February 18 to 23 in Delhi and the Asian Olympic qualifier from March 27 to 29 in Xian, China.
WFI President Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh said, "Trials will definitely not be postponed. We have wrestlers fighting in 74 kg. What can we do if Sushil gets injured?" The WFI president was asked if Sushil would be given a chance in the Asian qualifiers, saying, 'We will see the performance of the winner of 74 kg in the ranking series. Only then we will decide on the next step.'
In the men's freestyle, Ravi Dahiya (57 kg), Bajrang (65 kg) and Deepak Poonia (86 kg), while in the women's category Vinesh Phogat (53 kg) won the quota for the Tokyo Olympic Games at the World Championships in Noor Sultan. Ravi, Deepak and Vinesh have been asked to participate in the trials. WFI Assistant Secretary Vinod Tomar said, "If WFI feels that there is not strong hope for Asian qualifiers (for Tokyo Games) in March, then Sushil can be asked to join the trials."
