Wrestlers miss out in Almaty, coach nonetheless on the way in which from Delhi

When India’s Greco-Roman wrestlers have been combating for a spot within the Tokyo Olympics, their coach, Georgian Temo Kazarashvili, was nonetheless on a flight from Delhi to Almaty, the place the Asian qualifiers started on Friday.
Kazarashvili was anticipated to succeed in Almaty round midnight Saturday, a number of hours after his wards have been already knocked out of the match. But that isn’t all.
The ladies’s wrestlers, who will start their quest for a spot within the Olympics on Saturday morning, too have been scheduled to succeed in Almaty concurrently Kazarashvili – which means, they must step on the mat barely hours after reaching the host metropolis and with out correct sleep for 2 nights.
Wrestling Federation of India assistant secretary Vinod Tomar mentioned the rationale for them reaching on the final minute – or in Kazarashvili’s case, after the occasion – was the journey restrictions attributable to the pandemic.
Raj Malik, the daddy of nationwide champion Sonam, mentioned the crew left from Delhi early Friday morning. “I spoke to Sonam in the evening before she took her connecting flight. By the time she will reach her hotel after completing all formalities, it will be around 3 am. And early Saturday morning, she will have to be at the venue for the weigh-in followed by competition,” Malik mentioned.
India has despatched a five-member ladies’s crew for the qualifiers. Apart from Sonam, others are Seema Bisla (50kg), Anshu Malik (57kg), Nisha Dahiya (68kg) and Pooja (76kg). Sonam, Anshu and Seema are thought-about first rate bets to safe an Olympic quota in Almaty, however how a lot the rushed journey preparations have an effect on their performances stays to be seen.
Tomar mentioned the federation ‘found it difficult to book flight tickets’.
“Earlier, there used to be a direct flight to Astana. But because of the pandemic, that option was not available. We managed to get 10 seats for a flight on April 7. So, we sent the six Greco-Roman wrestlers who competed on Friday, three referees and Greco-Roman chief coach Hargobind Singh,” Tomar mentioned. “The next flight we got was for Friday morning. The rest of the team, including the Greco-Roman foreign coach and the women wrestlers, took that flight.”
Other ladies wrestlers competing solely in Asian Championship, which can be held on the identical venue, will go away from Delhi on April 13, Tomar mentioned – that’s someday earlier than their draw and two days earlier than the competitors.
The Greco-Roman wrestlers, in the meantime, struggled to handle with out the international coach. On events the place bouts involving Indians have been held concurrently on two mats, Hargobind sat in a single whereas for one more, a wrestler crammed in as an alternative of a coach.
Eventually, not one of the Indians certified though 5 of them got here agonisingly shut. Gyanender (60kg), Ashu (67kg), Gurpreet Singh (77kg), Sunil Kumar (87kg class) and Naveen (130kg) misplaced within the semifinals. Only the finalists have been assured of a spot within the Olympics.
The final likelihood for the wrestlers to earn an Olympic spot would be the world qualifiers, to be held from May 6 to 9. India have to date gained 4 quotas, three in freestyle – Ravi Kumar (57kg), Bajrang Punia (65kg) and Deepak Punia (86kg) – and one in ladies’s, Vinesh Phogat (53kg).