Antim Panghal’s win, Ravi Dahiya’s shock loss headline Asian Games trials

Olympic medallist Ravi Dahiya (in blue) ended up getting pinned by the relatively unfancied Atish Todkar (in red). PTI

U-20 world champion Antim Panghal headlined the wrestling trials for the Hangzhou Asian Games that took place in New Delhi on Saturday and Sunday, making an emphatic statement by winning the women’s 53kg category.

Panghal won her trial on the same day in which the Delhi High Court struck down the petition that was filed by her and fellow wrestler Sujeet Kalkal questioning the exemptions handed to star wrestlers Vinesh Phogat and Bajrang Punia.

Vinesh and Bajrang were offered exemptions in the women’s 53kg and men’s 65kg categories respectively, with the former set to represent India in that category despite Antim winning the trial. The decision to award the exemptions was made by the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) ad-hoc panel that is currently in charge of everyday affairs at the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI).

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‘Why should I be standby player?’: Antim Panghal makes emphatic statement by winning Asian Games trial

Panghal, who pinned Manju in the final only to find herself being named standby, vowed to continue her fight against the exemptions and even take the matter to the Supreme Court if need be.

“I won the trial fair and square. Why should I be the standby player, I won the trial. The one who did not compete should be standby player in 53kg. My petition has been dismissed but I won’t stop, I will keep fighting, we will move the Supreme Court,” Panghal told reporters after her event.

Much like Panghal, Vishal Kaliraman too finds himself being named a standby despite winning the 65kg trial, with Bajrang set to represent the nation in that category. And like Panghal, Vishal too expressed his displeasure at the prospect of being named No 2 despite his hard work.

“I just wanted to win the trial today. Even if Bajrang was here today, I would have won, I was determined to win. We respect him for his achievements but what they are doing may destroy the careers of junior players,” 25-year-old Kaliraman said after his win.

The other major talking point from the trials was Tokyo Olympics medallist Ravi Dahiya’s shock defeat at the hands of Maharashtra’s Atish Todkar in the 57kg trial.

Dahiya, who won silver in the Tokyo games in 2021, ended up getting pinned by Todkar in his first competitive appearance this year after recovering from a knee injury.

Todkar, however, failed to go the distance despite the giant-killing act as he was knocked out in the semi-finals by Rahul, who in turn would lose to U23 world champion Aman Sehrawat in the 57kg final.

There were some upsets in the women’s section with Sarita Mor and Anshu Malik, both competing in the 57kg trial, failing to bag the quota. Mor defeated Malik in the opening round, and would later go on to lose to Mansi Ahlawat in the semis, with Ahlawat eventually winning the quota in that category.

Additionally, Rio Olympics bronze medallist Sakshi Malik and Sangeeta Phogat opted to skip the trials, thus ruling themselves out of contention for the ticket to China’s Hangzhou.

Read | Sakshi insists she never asked for exemption from Asian Games trials

While the women’s freestyle and Greco-Roman trials took place on Saturday, the men’s freestyle trials took place on Sunday, with the IOA ad-hoc panel conducting the event at the Indira Gandhi Stadium in New Delhi.

Due to the protests staged by wrestlers and their parents against the exemptions awarded to Vinesh and Bajrang, who were the faces of the protest against WFI and its outgoing president Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, the trials were conducted behind closed doors.

Here’s a detailed look the winners of the trials who will comprise the Indian wrestling contingent for the Asian Games:

Women’s freestyle

50kg: Pooja Gehlot (defeated Nirmala Devi)

53kg: Vinesh Phogat (Antim Panghal named standby after defeating Manju)

57kg: Mansi Ahlawat (defeated Sito)

62kg: Sonam Malik (defeated Manisha)

68kg: Radhika (defeated Nisha Dahiya)

76kg: Kiran (defeated Divya Kakran)

Greco-Roman

60kg: Gyanender Dahiya (defeated Vikram Kurad)

67kg: Neeraj (defeated Ankit Guliya)

77kg: Vikash (defeated Karan)

87kg: Sunil Kumar (defeated Manoj Kumar)

97kg: Narinder Cheema (defeated Nitesh)

130kg: Naveen (defeated Parvesh)

Men’s Freestyle

57kg: Aman Sehrawat (defeated Rahul)

65kg: Bajrang Punia (Vishal Kaliraman named standby after defeating Rohit)

74kg: Yash (defeated Naveen Malik)

86kg: Deepak Punia (defeated Jonty)

97kg: Vicky (defeated Gourav Baliyan)

125kg: Sumit (defeated Ashish)