Sonam Malik pulls out of Asian wrestling championships due to injury

NEW DELHI: Sonam Malik has pulled out of the Asian Wrestling Championships to be held in Almaty later this month.

Haryana's 19-year-old wrestler Sonam who had won an Olympic quota earlier injured her knee during her semi-final win in the 62kg group in the Asian Olympic qualifiers in Almaty. Later, she withdrew from the finals.

The Asian Championships is scheduled to be held from April 13 to 18. "After consultation with the local medical expert, it has been decided to give Sonam break from competition as it could aggravate the injury," chief women's coach Kuldeep Malik told IANS from Almaty.

According to Malik, Sonam was injured in the initial stages of the semi-final bout but made a stunning comeback to win the match and earn a Tokyo Olympic berth.

"I believe she would recover soon from her injury. The national team would be back on April 19, but Sonam arrive sooner. Then she would go for more thorough examination of the injured knee," added the coach.

Sonam's build-up to the Asian Olympic qualifiers didn't go the way she wanted it to. In February, she suffered a head injury during a training session at the national camp in Lucknow. She not only missed 10 days of training but also had to skip the World Ranking Series tournament in Rome that was held from March 4 to 7.

"She gradually regained her fitness and didn't let the chance of winning an Olympic quota in Almaty go waste," said Sonam's personal coach Ajmer Singh.