Eight wrestlers, including top guns Vinesh Phogat and Bajrang Punia, have pulled out of the upcoming Zagreb Open, saying they are not feeling ready for the competition, while Anju has withdrawn from the tournament due to an injury. The Mary Kom-headed oversight committee managing the WFI affairs had on Wednesday named a 36-member Indian squad for the UWW Ranking Series event, starting February 1 in the Croatian capital.
Tokyo Olympics silver medallist Ravi Dahiya (57kg), world championship medallist Deepak Punia (86kg), talented youngster Anshu Malik (57kg), Bajrang’s wife Sangeeta Phogat (62kg), Sarita Mor (59kg) and Jitendra Kinha (79kg), have all communicated along with Vinesh (53kg) and Bajrang (65kg) that they will not be able to compete.
“The reason they have given is that they are not feeling 100 percent well to participate. They are stretching it a bit now.
The wrestlers, who staged a sit-in, lost practice time ahead of the tournament and would have struggled to put on a show.
Read more: https://sports.ndtv.com/wrestling/top-wrestlers-pull-out-of-zagreb-open-saying-they-are-not-ready-3729520
