World Olympic Qualifier: Wrestling

World Qualifiers are the last tournament in Wrestling to achieve an Olympic Quota. World Qualifiers are set to take place in Sofia, Bulgaria between 6-9 May. 474 wrestlers from 84 countries are going to participate at this event.

How many quotas India already has?

India has managed to already secure 6 quotas through the World Championship and Asian qualifier route. So, out of 18 weight categories (6 each in Women’s Wrestling, Greco-Roman & Men’s Freestyle), India has quota in 6 weight categories.

Here is a list of the quotas already secured:

Quotas earned through World Championship

Ravi Kumar Dahiya – 57 kg Men’s Freestyle

Bajrang Punia – 65 kg Men’s Freestyle

Deepak Punia – 86 kg Men’s Freestyle

Vinesh Phogat – 53 kg Women’s Wrestling

Quotas earned through Asian Qualifiers

Anshu Malik – 57 kg Women’s Wrestling

Sonam Malik – 62 kg Women’s Wrestling

Out of 6 weight categories in Men’s freestyle, India has already achieved a quota in 3. In Women’s Wrestling, we have 3 quota and we are still to open account in Greco-Roman.

Indian Wrestlers in the remaining 10 weight categories will try and get a quota at World Qualifiers. In each of the weight categories, only 2 quotas are available. Hence, the wrestler need to reach Final to achieve quota.

Here is the schedule for World Qualifiers:

6th May, Thursday:

Men’s Freestyle Wrestling –

Amit Dhankar – 74 kg Total Entries -34

Satyawart kadian – 97 kg Total Entries -25

Sumit Malik – 125 kg Total Entries – 20

7th May, Friday:

Women’s Wrestling –

Seema Bisla – 50 kg Total Entries – 18

Nisha – 68 kg Total Entries – 21

Pooja – 76 kg Total Entries – 22

8th May, Saturday:

Men’s Greco-Roman –

Sachin Rana – 60 kg Total Entries – 27

Aashu – 67 kg Total Entries – 30

Gurpreet Singh – 77 kg Total Entries – 34

Sunil – 87 kg Total Entries – 30

Deepanshu – 97 kg Total Entries – 24

Naveen Kumar – 130 kg Total Entries – 21

All Indian Wrestlers are bound to face a tough competition to get a quota given that wrestlers from all over the world are taking part.

Where to watch:

Matches are live on Wrestling TV from 12:30 PM.