The Wrestling Federation of India has cancelled the proposed freestyle training camp in Russia for the Olympic weight categories. Bajrang Punia, Deepak Punia and Ravi Dahiya were among five wrestlers scheduled for a training sting in Russia this month.
The decision is prompted by the travel restrictions and visa concerns. The wrestlers were also not comfortable with travelling due to the Coronavirus fear.
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“We have decided to cancel the freestyle training camp which was scheduled to be held in Russia. There were visa concerns and the some wrestlers were also not comfortable with air travel due to the prevailing virus menace,” WFI Assistant Secretary Vinod Tomar told WrestlingTV.
The unwarranted development in an Olympic year comes as a setback to wrestlers’ training programme. Bajrang, Deepak and Dahiya have already earned quota places for Tokyo 2020 Olympics.
Deepak and Ravi Dahiya were anxious about travelling to Russia. Bajrang though was keen to further strengthen his leg defence during the training stint in Russia.
Earlier, WFI had called off the women’s camp, which was scheduled for Ukraine as a precautionary measure.
Now, only the Indian Greco-Roman team and Vinesh Phogat are currently training abroad in Azerbaijan and Norway respectively.
