Wrestlers miss flight in Rome due to Covid tests

CHENNAI: A few women wrestlers along with their head coach Kuldeep Malik and a couple of Greco-Roman grapplers were forced to miss their flight due to Covid-19 tests at the airport in Rome. 

The wrestlers were heading back home after participating in the Matteo Pellicone Ranking Series held in the city from March 4 to 7. These wrestlers along with their support staff were allowed to board the next flight, but a layover of around 22 hours at Amsterdam meant the journey took around 48 hours to complete.

"We were supposed to board the flight on Monday morning. However, on reaching the airport we were told that we have to undergo a test and will be allowed to board only if the report comes negative," one of the wrestlers said.

While most from the Indian contingent including Bajrang Punia, who won gold in the 65kg category, managed to undergo the tests and obtain negative reports in time, Malik, some women wrestlers and two from the Greco-Roman style could not complete the process. Bajrang and Co. reached the country on Tuesday morning.

"There was a long queue and one person was conducting tests. For the results, we have to wait at least for 30 minutes. By the time, we completed the process and got the result, the boarding time was over," informed another wrestler.

They boarded another flight in the afternoon. 

"We reached Amsterdam but had to wait there for almost a day before flying out for New Delhi. We reached the national capital at around 12:30am on Wednesday and have to take another Covid test before coming out," added the wrestler. 

The grappler informed that almost everyone from the Indian contingent had taken more than half-a-dozen Covid tests for participating in the Ranking Series. These wrestlers and support staff will now join the national camps.

Trials date announced

As was reported by The New Indian Express, the Wrestling Federation of India on Wednesday announced that trials to select freestyle and Greco-Roman wrestlers for the Asian Olympic Games Qualifier and Asian Championships will be held at KD Jadhav Wrestling Indoor Stadium, New Delhi on March 16. The trials will be held in three Olympic weight categories (74kg, 97kg and 125kg) in freestyle and all six Olympic weight categories in Greco-Roman. 

Selection trials in remaining weight categories for the continental event will be held in the third week of March. The WFI will decide a date for selection trials in women's category soon.