The Rio Olympic bronze medallist Sakshi Malik has not lost hope on the Tokyo 2020 Olympics participation. Sakshi who was shocked in the national wrestling trials by two time cadet world champion Sonam Malik has told WrestlingTV that she feels her Tokyo dreams are still alive. But Sakshi admits that these dreams can only become reality if she performs well at the Asian Championships in Delhi and others flop.
“I am working very hard and still feel I can qualify for Tokyo Olympics. But for that to happen I need to exceptionally well in the Asian Wrestling Championship in Delhi. Post that it will depend on how others perform. If all goes my way, I feel I can still qualify”.
It is worth noting that the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) had already announced that if the selected players does not perform well in the first two events at Rome Ranking Series and the Asian Wrestling, federation can call for trials once again. This declaration by WFI is giving Sakshi some hope to still qualify for the Olympics. Not only this but 18 year old Sonam’s opening round loss in the Rome Ranking event has further given some credence to the hope Sakshi is carrying for the re-trials. In the Asian Wrestling, Sakshi will compete in the 65kg category and would expect that she wins gold to stake claim for re-trials.
“To win in the 65kg at Asian will be the most crucial. After that it is all dependent on my luck” said Sakshi.
Like Sakshi, 2018 World medallist Pooja Dhanda and Gursharan Kaur is also expecting that they will get that second chance to stake their claims for Tokyo 2020 qualifications.
“As per my understanding the trials will be conducted again for the weights where we don’t win medal in the Asian Championships and I am preparing myself for that opportunity” said Dhanda to WrestlingTV.
Unlike Sakshi and Gursharan, Dhanda decided to stay away from the trials for the non-olympic category for the Asian Championships. This means she will not be in action at the Asian Wrestling resulting in her Olympic hopes dependent on only one factor i.e performance of Anshu Malik at the Asian Wrestling. But the bad news for Dhanda is that teenage talent from Haryana, Anshu already has made waves by winning silver medal at the Rome Ranking. 18 year old Anshu defeated world champion Linda Morais of Canada and many other big names during her medal winning performance in Rome and impressed everyone. This has more or less shut doors on Dhanda’s hopes of re-trials in 57kg category.
