Asian Wrestling Olympic Qualifiers 2024: Deepak Punia, Sujeet Kalakal miss weigh-ins after flight delays
Both Indian wrestlers were stuck in Dubai due to heavy rains in the region. Attending weigh-ins is mandatory for wrestlers.
In a major setback for Indian wrestling, Tokyo Olympian Deepak Punia and Sujeet Kalakal missed the Asian Wrestling Olympic Qualifiers 2024 after flight delays in Dubai due to incessant rain stopped them from reaching Bishkek in time for the weigh-ins.
On Friday, Punia and Kalakal were scheduled to compete at the Asian Wrestling Olympic Qualifiers, which is the penultimate qualifying event for Indian wrestlers looking to secure a quota for the upcoming Summer Games.
However, Punia and Kalakal, along with coach Kamal Malikov and physio Shubham Gupta, were stuck at the Dubai airport since Tuesday as heavy rains in the region caused multiple flights getting delayed or cancelled.
Despite eventually reaching Bishkek on Friday morning, the Indian wrestlers could not report for the weigh-in on time.
The two wrestlers, who were training in Dagestan, Russia for the Qualifiers, can still obtain quotas for the Summer Games through the World Qualification Tournament in Turkey scheduled in May.
Deepak Punia, who was to compete in the men’s freestyle 86kg category, is a silver medallist at the World Championships and the Asian Games. He also made the semi-finals at the Tokyo Olympics.
Kalakal, meanwhile, was to compete in the 65kg - a category in which Bajarang Punia won the bronze medal at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.
Fifteen other Indian wrestlers, including two-time Olympian Vinesh Phogat and former U-23 world and Asian champion Aman Sehrawat, are competing for Paris 2024 Olympic quotas at the Asian Wrestling Qualifiers in Bishkek, which runs from April 19 to 21.