India’ s effort for more quota places in Paris Olympics wrestling competition suffered major setback as strong contenders Tokyo Olympian Deepak Punia and Sujeet Kalakal missed the Asian Wrestling Olympic Qualifiers after flight delays in Dubai due to incessant rain forced them from reaching Bishkek in time for the weigh-ins.
On Friday, Punia and Kalakal were scheduled to compete at the Asian Wrestling Olympic Qualifiers, which is the penultimate qualifying event for Indian wrestlers looking to secure a quota for the Summer Games.
However, both the wrestlers, along with coach Kamal Malikov and physio Shubham Gupta, were stuck at the Dubai airport since Tuesday as heavy rains in the region caused multiple flights getting delayed or canceled
Despite eventually reaching Bishkek on Friday morning, the two wrestlers could not report for the weigh-in on time.
Attending weigh-ins is mandatory for wrestlers.
The wrestlers, who were training in Dagestan, Russia for the Qualifiers, can still obtain quotas for the Summer Games through the World Qualification Tournament in Turkey scheduled in May.
Deepak Punia, who was to compete in the men’s freestyle 86kg category, is a silver medallist at the World Championships and the Asian Games. He also made the semi-finals at the Tokyo Olympics.
Kalakal, meanwhile, was to compete in the 65kg – a category in which Bajarang Punia won the bronze medal at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.
Fifteen other Indian wrestlers, including two-time Olympian Vinesh Phogat and former U-23 world and Asian champion Aman Sehrawat, are competing for Paris Olympic quotas at the Asian Wrestling Qualifiers in Bishkek, which runs from April 19 to 21.