The Indian contingent including 30 wrestlers is set to head out to Kyrgyzstan for the upcoming 3rd Ranking Series “Kaba Uulu Kozhomkul and Raatbek Sanatbaev” event in Bishkek.
The Indian contingent including 30 wrestlers is set to head out to Kyrgyzstan for the upcoming 3rd Ranking Series “Kaba Uulu Kozhomkul and Raatbek Sanatbaev” event in Bishkek. The Bishkek Ranking Series will be attended by more than 400 wrestlers. The third Ranking Series of the year will be headlined by 29 continental champions who won gold medals in the recently concluded championships across the world. India will be without the services of many veteran players, in the absence of which the squad will be led by Olympic silver medalist Ravi Kumar who is in a championship after a long time due to MCL and ACL injuries. The women’s side will be led by the Asian Championship gold medalist Sarita Mor. The Indian side is mostly a mix of veterans as well as novices of the game.
In freestyle, Azerbaijan is bringing a solid squad headlined by Haji Aliyev and Aliabbas Rzazade. Kyrgyzstan and Georgia are also bringing some of their top names in freestyle. Women’s wrestling will see powerhouse China bring a full squad. Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Ukraine will be the biggest opposition to this Chinese domination. In Greco-Roman, Iran will be the favourite in most weight classes. The country will be led by Olympic champion Mohammadreza Geraei. The contingent also includes Amin Mirzazadeh, Poya Dad Marz, Daniel Shorabi and Mohammad Hadi Saravi among others. Georgia and Turkiye too have a tough squad for the tournament. Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan will try to challenge these countries when the Ranking series begins.
Read more: Asian Wrestling Championships 2023: Indian Men’s squad announced
India has fielded 11 wrestlers in the freestyle style in the men across various weight categories in the Ranking Series. Additionally, there are 9 women wrestlers in the same style across different weight categories. In the Greco-Roman style, India has 10 wrestlers who will be going toe to toe with world champions from various countries. The Indian contingent will be bereft without the services of Bajrang Punia, Vinesh Phogat and Sakshi Malik. In their absence, Ravi Kumar will lead the contingent along with U23 champion Aman. Both of them will be participating in the 61 kg. Ravi Kumar will be wrestling for the first type since the World Championship. The rest of the contingent is as follows.
Freestyle (men)
Name | Weight category |
Ravi Kumar | 61 kg |
Pankaj | 61 kg |
Aman | 61 kg |
Anuj Kumar | 65 kg |
Mulayam Yadav | 70 kg |
Yash | 74 kg |
Deepak | 79 kg |
Jointy Kumar | 86 kg |
Deepak Punia | 86 kg |
Deepak | 97 kg |
Anirudh Kumar | 125 kg |
Freestyle (women)
Name | Weight Category |
Neelam | 50 kg |
Pooja | 53 kg |
Sito | 55 kg |
Sarita | 59 kg |
Sonam | 62 kg |
Manisha | 65 kg |
Nisha | 68 kg |
Reetika | 72 kg |
Priya | 76 kg |
Greco-roman style
Name | Weight category |
Rupin | 55 kg |
Sumit | 60 kg |
Ashu | 67 kg |
Neeraj | 67 kg |
Vikas | 72 kg |
Sajan | 77 kg |
Rohit Dahiya | 82 kg |
Kumar Sunil | 87 kg |
Narinder Cheema | 97 kg |
Sahil | 130 kg |
The 2023 Bishek Ranking Series will commence on June 1 and end on June 4.
All the matches of the 2023 Bishek Ranking Series will be streamed live on the youtube channel of United World Wrestling (UWW). Viewers can access it from the official website of UWW. The matches won’t be live telecasted on television broadcasting platforms.
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