Asian Games 2023, Indian wrestling team: Olympic medallist Ravi Dahiya misses out - selection trial results

The Indian wrestling team for the Asian Games 2023 was confirmed this weekend. While the Greco-Roman and women’s freestyle wrestlers were shortlisted through selection trials held at the Kedar Jadhav Hall in New Delhi’s Indira Gandhi Stadium on Saturday, the men’s freestyle trials were conducted on Sunday at the same venue.

Bajrang Punia (men’s 65kg) and Vinesh Phogat (women’s 53kg) were exempted from the trials by the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) ad-hoc committee, which is in charge of conducting the day-to-day affairs of the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI). The duo got direct entries to the Hangzhou Games.

However, trials in their respective categories were still conducted and the winners will be standbys.

A total of 18 wrestlers, six each in Greco-Roman, men’s freestyle and women’s freestyles, were selected for the Hangzhou Asian Games 2023. An additional two standbys, for the women’s 53kg and men’s 65kg, were also picked.

The biggest news coming out from the trials was Olympic silver medallist Ravi Kumar Dahiya missing the flight to Hangzhou. Competing in the men’s 57kg, Ravi Dahiya suffered a first round early exit after being pinned by Atish Todkar.

Ravi Dahiya was competing for the first time this year at the trials in New Delhi after recovering from a knee injury.

The men’s 57kg quota, however, went to Aman Sehrawat, an Asian and U23 world champion in the category. Aman beat Rahul, who had ousted Todkar in the semis, in the final.

Olympian Deepak Punia sealed the men’s 86kg berth, fending off a spirited Jonty in the final.

Vishal Kaliraman beat Rohit in the final of the 65kg category and will be the standby for Bajrang in the division.

Yash, Vicky and Sumit clinched the 74kg, 97kg and 125kg men’s freestyle slots, respectively.

The women’s section saw some big surprises with world championships medallists Sarita Mor and Anshu Malik both failing to make the cut.

Sarita Mor beat Anshu Malik 6-4 in the first round of the women’s 57kg category but lost in the semi-finals to junior world championships bronze medallist Mansi Ahlawat, who later beat fellow junior wrestler Sito to win the division.

Meanwhile, Antim Panghal, the 2022 U-20 world champion, dominated the 53kg division before pinning Manju in the final. However, the 19-year-old will have to be a standby for Vinesh Phogat.

Commonwealth Games bronze medallist Pooja Gehlot, meanwhile, sealed the 50kg slot by pinning Nirmala Devi in the final. Sonam Malik also won the 62kg trials with a victory by fall over Manisha. Olympic medallist Sakshi Malik did not compete in the trials and will miss the Asian Games.

The women’s 68kg, meanwhile, saw another big upset with Radhika emerging as the surprising winner. She knocked out favourite Nisha Dahiya before getting the better of Priyanka in the final. Kiran won the 76kg, outwrestling Divya Kakran in the deciding bout.

Former Asian championships bronze medal winner Gyanender was the top wrestler in the 60kg Greco-Roman division while usual suspects Neeraj, Naveen and Narinder Cheema also made the cut.

However, Sajan Bhanwal, who became the first-ever Indian Greco-Roman wrestler to win a medal at the U-23 world championships last year, failed to make the cut in the 77kg.

Asian Games 2023 Indian wrestling team - full squad

Greco-Roman

• Gyanender - 60kg
• Neeraj - 67kg
• Vikash - 77kg
• Sunil Kumar - 87kg
• Narinder Cheema - 97kg
• Naveen - 130kg

Women’s freestyle

• Pooja Gehlot - 50kg
• Vinesh Phogat - 53kg (Antim Panghal as standby)
• Mansi Ahlawat - 57kg
• Sonam Malik - 62kg
• Radhika - 68kg
• Kiran - 76kg

Men’s freestyle

• Aman Sehrawat - 57kg
• Bajrang Punia - 65kg (Vishal Kaliraman as standby)
• Yash - 74kg
• Deepak Punia - 86kg
• Vicky - 97kg
• Sumit - 125kg