Phogat takes center stage as Indian wrestlers embark on Olympic quota pursuit

The spotlight will be on twotime Olympian Vinesh Phogat as she along with 16 other Indian wrestlers begin their chase for Paris Olympics quota places at the Asia Olympic qualifiers beginning here on FridayAs many as 36 quotas will be up for grabs in 18 weight categories across three disciplines freestyle women and grecoroman during the event with India representing in all but one weight categoryAntim Panghal 19 has already sealed a quota place in womens 53kg for India en route to her bronze medal winning feat at the 2023 World Wrestling Championships in Belgrade SerbiaIt will be time for the rest of the Indian wrestlers such as Vinesh 50kg Reetika Hooda 76kg the current Under23 world champion Anshu 57kg Mansi 62kg and Nisha 68kg to put their best foot forward and seal their quota placesHowever none of the Indians will be under the scanner like Vinesh the 2018 Asian Games and 2022 Commonwealth Games medallist who was one of the face of Indian wrestlers protest against former national federation WFI president Brij Bhushan Sharan SinghThe 29yearold who has been in the news for wrong reasons of late had won the national trials in March in 50kg Though at the selection trials in Patiala she had competed in the 53kg category as well after the authorities allowed her but she lost in the semifinalsVinesh also had alleged that her personal coach and physio were being denied accreditation for the Asian Olympic qualifying tournamentShe will be desperate to put all the noise behind her and put up a good show to make it to what could be her third OlympicsAlso Read Vinesh accuses WFI chief of trying to end her Olympic dreamIn mens freestyle category Aman Sehrawat 57kg will hog the limelight after he earned his place after outwitting Tokyo Olympic medallist Ravi Dahiya in the national trialsHe also looks in good form as he had claimed a gold at the Zagreb Open in January this yearAmong others Sujeet too will be closely watched as he leads the challenge in 65kg category following the failure of Tokyo bronze medallist Bajrang PuniaDeepak Punia 86kg who had come close to winning a medal at the Tokyo Games will also eye a good outing while Jaideep 74kg Deepak 97kg and Sumit 125kg will also look to produce their best game to claim a quota for IndiaThere will be no gold medal repechage or bronzemedal bouts in the continental qualifiers with winners of both semifinals in each Olympic weight class earning a quota for their countries at the Paris OlympicsIn grecoroman Sumit 60kg Ashu 67kg Vikas 77kg Sunil 87kg Nitesh 97kg and Naveen 130kg will look for a good showWith agency inputs