Wrestling World Cup: Ravi Kumar, Deepak Punia among 24 wrestlers to represent India

New Delhi: Ravi Kumar and Deepak Punia are among the 24 wrestlers who will be representing India in the upcoming Wrestling World Cup to be held from December 12 to December 18, 2020. A contingent of 42 members, including 24 wrestlers, 9 coaches, 3 support staff, and 3 referees, will be travelling to Belgrade, Serbia to represent India at the senior Individual World Cup, according to an official statement.

It will be the first international competition that Indian wrestlers will be participating in after the nationwide lockdown was imposed in March due to the coronavirus pandemic. 

The participation in the tournament has been sanctioned by the government at an overall cost of more than Rs 90 lakh and will include Air Tickets, Boarding and Lodging, United World Wrestling licence fees, visa fees and out of pocket allowances for players, coaches and referees, said the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports statement.

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These wrestlers will participate in the tournament:

Men’s freestyle: Ravi Kumar (57 kg), Rahul Aware (61 kg), Naveen (70 kg), Gourav Baliyan (79 kg), Deepak Punia  (86 kg), Satyavart Kadian (97 kg), Sumit (125 kg)

Men’s Greco-Roman: Arjun Halakurki (55 kg), Gyanender (60 kg), Sachin Rana (63 kg), Ashu (67 kg), Aditya Kundu (72 kg), Sajan (77 kg), Sunil Kumar (87 kg), Hardeep (97 kg), Naveen (130 kg)

Women’s: Nirmala Devi (50 kg), Pinki (55 kg), Anshu (57 kg), Sarita (59 kg), Sonam (62 kg), Sakshi Malik (65 kg), Gursharan Preet Kaur (72 kg), Kiran (76 kg)

India have attained a total of four Olympic quotas in wrestling through Bajrang Punia (men’s freestyle 65 kg), Vinesh Phogat (women’s 53 kg), Ravi Kumar, and Deepak Punia. 

These Indian wrestlers will have two more opportunities to attain the remaining quotas at the Asian Qualification Tournament scheduled in March 2021 and the World Qualification Tournament scheduled from April 29 to May 2, 2021.