One of India’s biggest bet in freestyle Sumit Malik has reportedly pulled out of the New Delhi bound Asian Wrestling Championships due to a knee injury.
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It is learnt that the 125kg category wrestler, who is a 2017 Asian Championships silver medallist, suffered the injury while training for the championships. The Wrestling Federation of India has not announced Sumit’s replacement as of now.
The pull out will rob Sumit of a high chance of bagging his maiden gold in the Championships as Kazakhstan’s Yusup Batirmurzaev was the only formidable rival the Indian would have to overcome in his weight category line up. Batirmurzaev had won bronze in the Rome Ranking series this year and the World Championships last year.
Sumit, who is also a Commonwealth Games gold medallist, is also the second Indian to withdraw from the Championships this time. Days before the tournament began, Greco-Roman 87 kg category wrestler Naveen was ruled out of the competition due to an injury. He was replaced by Meher Singh, who lost in the bronze round in the opening day.
The freestyle bouts in the ongoing Asian Championships will be played on 22nd and 23rd February. The six-day event started on 18th February and will conclude on 23rd February.
India’s Freestyle squad
57kg- Ravi Kumar Dahiya
61kg- Rahul Aware
65kg- Bajrang Punia
70kg- Naveen
74kg- Jitender
79kg- Gaurav Baliyan
86kg- Deepak Punia
92kg- Sombir
97kg- Satywart Kadian
125kg- Yet to be named
CLICK HERE: LIVE Streaming of Asian Wrestling Championships 2020
Asian Wrestling Champions 2020 Full Schedule, India squad, Where to watch live: All You Need to Know
