Due to tight quarantine, the scheduled camp for eight Olympic-bound Indian wrestlers in Sonepat has been canceled, and they will instead train in several European locations, with the national federation providing each of them with a sparring partner of their preference.
The wrestlers, both men, and women were supposed to meet at the SAI center in Bahalgarh on Tuesday, but the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) has changed its plans, and they will now all fly to Warsaw in the final week of May.
From June 8-13, the capital city of Poland will host the final Ranking Series event before the Tokyo Games, offering everyone an opportunity to gain some critical ranking points that will help them receive a better draw at the Olympics.
“We had planned a camp in Bahalgarh but since they would not be allowed to train for 14 days due to hard quarantine, we thought it is better they for the time being they train at their respective ‘akhadas’ and then travel to Poland,” Vinod Tomar, the WFI assistant secretary said in an interview.
“We are also allowing all the wrestlers to travel with one partner of their choice for practice. A few, like Vinesh Phogat, Bajrang Punia, Ravi Dahiya, and Deepak Punia, will be accompanied by their personal coaches too,” he further added.
The World Wrestling Federation has requested that Indian wrestlers utilize its facilities for a training camp ahead of the competition in Warsaw next month. After the event, the Indian wrestlers will return to Warsaw for another training session organized by the Polish federation.
Following the journey to Warsaw, the Indian contingent will go to Hungary for a training camp, then to Turkey to train and participate in the Yasar Dogu tournament (June 25-27), before returning to India in July.
