Wrestling: Sushil Kumar ignored for Olympic qualifiers, Amit Dhankar picked ahead of Sandeep Mann
The tournament, to be held in Sofia, Bulgaria, from May 6 to 9, will be the last qualifying event before the Tokyo Games. File image of Sushil Kumar | United World Wrestling
Former Asian champion Amit Dhankar (74kg) on Thursday replaced national gold-medallist Sandeep Mann in the Indian wrestling team for the upcoming World Olympic Qualifying Tournament, signalling the end of the road for veteran Sushil Kumar.
The tournament, to be held in Sofia, Bulgaria, from May 6 to 9, will be the last qualifying event before the Tokyo Games.
One of the country’s most accomplished athletes, Sushil won a silver in the 2012 London Olympics, four years after a bronze in Beijing.
Sushil Kumar ignored, Amit Dhankar picked ahead of Sandeep Mann for wrestling s final Tokyo Olympics qualifier
Sushil Kumar
Former Asian champion Amit Dhankar (74kg) on Thursday replaced national gold-medallist Sandeep Mann in the Indian wrestling team for the upcoming World Olympic Qualifying Tournament, signalling the end of the road for veteran Sushil Kumar.
The tournament, to be held in Sofia, Bulgaria from May 6-9, will be the last qualifying event before the Tokyo Games.
One of the country s most accomplished athletes, Sushil won a silver in the 2012 London Olympics, four years after a bronze in Beijing. To stay alive is more important at this stage. I have not spoken to WFI as yet, will speak to them, the 37-year-old Sushil told PTI. The team was picked by the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) after a meeting of its selection committee, the federation said in a press release signed by its assistant secretary Vinod Tomar.
Asian Olympic qualifiers: Which Indian wrestler can make it to Tokyo 2021?
Asian Olympic qualifiers: Which Indian wrestler can make it to Tokyo 2021?
Sonam Malik (in blue) competes against Hanbit Lee (KOR) in the 62 Kg category during the Senior Asian Wrestling Championship in February 2020 in New Delhi.
Vipin Kumar/Hindustan Times via Getty Images
From India s first individual medallist (KD Jadhav, 1952) to the only double individual medallist (Sushil Kumar, 2008 and 2012), wrestling has been one of India s most successful sports at the Olympics.
In 2016, India sent its largest contingent to the Games yet eight, including eventual bronze medallist Sakshi Malik. This year, as things stand, four have already qualified for Tokyo Ravi Dahiya (men s 57kg freestyle), Bajrang Punia (men s 65kg), Deepak Punia (men s 86kg) and Vinesh Phogat (women s 53kg). The contingent could be significantly bigger this time as another 14 wrestlers will get a chance to add to that number at the
Top Para athletes attend Webinar by Cairn Oil & Gas and PCI 01/13/21
Country’s top para-athletes including two-time Paralympic champion Devendra Jhajharia, two-time world champion Sundar Singh Gurjar and Para Badminton ace Parul Parmar attended the Cairn Oil and Gas and Paralympic Committee of India (PCI)- organised webinar held to mark the National Youth Day on Jan. 12, 2021.
The webinar, titled – Abhipreran – A Motivational Talk by Para Athletes of India, also had the presence of PCI President Dr. Deepa Malik who attended it as one of the guests of honour besides seven other Para athletes (participants) including Sandeep Mann, Abu Hubaida and promising names like Rudransh Khandelwal.