Lucknow: Top Indian male wrestlers secured their quotas for the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games following a gruelling 12-hour selection trial at the Sports Authority of India (SAI) centre here on Sunday.
Star Indian wrestlers Aman Sehrawat (57kg) and Sujeet Kalkal (65kg) cruised into the team with comfortable victories, while Deepak Punia made a strong return to the squad after a long absence.
The Tokyo Olympian earned a last-minute entry into the trials in the higher 97kg category after winning the Gonda National Open Tournament last month.
He started his day with a fighting 4-0 win on points over Sahil Jaglan before claiming a pinfall win against Deepak Chahal in the second round.
Later, he followed it up with a solid win over the top-seeded Vicky Hooda 7-3 in the semifinals and then claimed another victory by fall in the final against Jointy Kumar.
Meanwhile, Aman had three wins on technical superiority to confirm his spot in the team, while Sujeet edged past Vishal Kaliramana in the final to win the 65kg title.
In other results, Sagar Jaglan and Rajat Ruhal upset the favourites Jaideep and Dinesh Dhankar in men’s 74 and men’s 125 kg categories, respectively.
Coach Shako aims to improve India’s tactical gameplay
The Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) has appointed Bajrang Punia’s former coach, Georgian specialist Shako Bentindis, as the new head coach of the Indian men’s freestyle team.
Shako, who has returned to India, highlighted how the situation has changed significantly since his last stint. He noted that working with Bajrang was more personal, whereas he is now excited to work with a much larger pool of 100-150 wrestlers.
“Bajrang was a crazy athlete; he wanted to train every day without any pause. That’s why taking charge of the Indian team now is a very big opportunity for me,” said Shako.
He added, “Indian wrestling is at a good level and has great potential. The only issue is that nobody seems to know which direction to go.
Right now, I see that half of our wrestlers follow the same tactics with no variation.”The Georgian coach concluded, “With more experience now, I will focus heavily on tactical and technical improvement.”
Indian Men’s wrestling team for Asian Games
Freestyle: Aman Sehrawat (57Kg), Sujeet Kalkal (65Kg), Sagar Jaglan (74Kg), Mukul Dahiya (86Kg), Deepak Punia (97Kg), Rajat Ruhal (125Kg)
Greco-Roman: Sumit Dalal (60Kg), Deepak (67Kg), Aman (77Kg), Sunil Kumar (87Kg), Nitesh Siwach (97Kg), Deepanshu (130Kg)
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