Paris Olympics still in sight for 2 Indian wrestlers despite missing qualifiers due to Dubai rains

Two Indian wrestlers, Deepak Punia and Sujeet Kalakal, were stranded at the Dubai airport due to unprecedented rains, which delayed their flights to Kyrgyzstan, where they had to reach in time for their mandatory weigh-ins. However, due to the delay, they landed late and were denied participation in the Asian Wrestling Qualifiers, hurting their chances of boarding the flight to Paris for the 2024 Summer Games. But despite this, they still have one chance to punch their tickets for the Olympics in June.

The weigh-in for Deepak (in the 86 kg category) and Sujeet (in the 65kg category) was supposed to happen at 8 am local time on Thursday, while their boutswere scheduledon Friday evening. While the 17-member wrestling contingent reached Bishkek on time, the duo was left behind as several flights got rescheduled due to the heaviest rains recorded in Dubai over the past two days.

Upon reaching out to the related authorities, a source close to the information said the coaches and WFI president requested the World Wrestling Body to allow them to participate in the competition, but they denied their request.

Per the source, the concerned officials waited 10 extra minutes at the airport for their weigh-ins, but the wrestlers failed to arrive on time.

"Coaches and WFI president Sanjay Singh requested the UWW (world wrestling body), but the wrestlers were late, and the UWW denied them a chance to complete their weigh-in.In fact, after therequest from the WFI, the officials at the venuewaited10more minutes for the two wrestlers to complete their mandatory weigh-in after the deadline.But the two wrestlers werenot ableto make it on time,”the source said as quoted by India Today.

It’snot over yet!

Considering this was their second-last chance of qualifying for the 2024 Summer Games in Paris, the duo can still punch their ticket, with their final opportunity coming during the World Qualifiers in Turkey in May.

Meanwhile, at the Asian Wrestling Qualifiers, four Indian grapplers will be in action in themen’sfreestyle category – Aman (57 kg), Jaideep (74kg), Deepak (97kg) and Sumit (125kg).

While only one Indian wrestler, Antim Panghal (19) has booked her Paris Olympics ticket in thewomen’s53kg category, several others, including Vinesh Phogat (50kg), Reetika Hooda (76kg), the current Under-23 world champion Anshu (57kg), Mansi (62kg) and Nisha (68kg), have the chance to seal their spots for Summer Games in their respective categories.

As things stand, 36 quotas in 18 weight categories are up for grabs in the continental Olympic Qualifier.