Bajrang Punia and Vinesh Phogat receive direct entries for Asian Games, according to latest sports news.

NEW DELHI: The IOA ad-hoc panel made a decision on Tuesday to grant direct entries into the Asian Games to Olympic medallist Bajrang Punia and World Championship medallist Vinesh Phogat. This decision was made without the consent of the national chief coaches.

In a circular issued by the IOA ad-hoc panel, it was mentioned that the selection had already been made for the men’s freestyle 65kg and women’s 53kg categories, but trials would be conducted for all six weight categories in each of the three wrestling styles. Although the ad-hoc panel did not specifically mention Bajrang and Vinesh in the circular, panel member Ashok Garg confirmed to PTI that the two wrestlers had been exempted from the trials.

The Indian Olympic Association’s ad-hoc committee made this decision just four days before the trials to select the wrestling squad for the Asian Games, which are scheduled to begin on September 23 in Hangzhou, China. The trials for greco-roman and women’s freestyle are set to take place on July 22, while the men’s freestyle trials will be held on July 23 at IG Stadium in Delhi.

Bajrang, the 65kg wrestler, who was one of the six protesting wrestlers at Jantar Mantar demanding the arrest of Brij Bhushan, is currently training in Issyk-Kul, Kyrgyzstan. Vinesh, the 53kg wrestler who won the 2018 Jakarta Asian Games gold medal, is training in Budapest, Hungary.

The move to exempt Bajrang and Vinesh, however, has not gone down well with fellow competitors, who have threatened to move court.

Summary:
★IOA ad-hoc panel grants direct entries into the Asian Games to Bajrang Punia and Vinesh Phogat.
★Decision made without consent of national chief coaches.
★Selection already made for men’s freestyle 65kg and women’s 53kg categories.
★Trials to be conducted for all other weight categories.
★Bajrang and Vinesh exempted from trials.
★Trials for greco-roman and women’s freestyle on July 22, men’s freestyle on July 23.
★Bajrang training in Kyrgyzstan, Vinesh training in Hungary.
★Competitors threaten to move court over decision.