Tokyo Olympians Vinesh Phogat and Sonam Malik won their trials in Lucknow on Monday and will lead the nine-member Indian women’s team at the World Wrestling Championships 2022 to be held in Belgrade, Serbia next month.
Vinesh Phogat, who completed a hat-trick of gold medals at the Commonwealth Games earlier this month, was up against newly-crowned U20 world champion Antim Panghal in the 53kg final.
While Vinesh Phogat had to dig deep against Antim Panghal in the CWG trials earlier in May, she had an easier outing on Monday and blanked her younger opponent 7-0 to seal her place in the Indian wrestling team.
Vinesh Phogat won a bronze at the 2019 world championships and will seek her second medal at the 17th edition of the world championships to be held from September 10 to 18.
In the absence of Rio 2016 bronze medallist Sakshi Malik in the 62kg category, two-time cadet world champion Sonam Malik claimed the slot by defeating Manisha 2-1 in the final.
Sonam Malik, 20, had bagged a silver medal at the recently-concluded U20 world championships but is yet to win a seniors medal on the global stage.
Sakshi Malik pulled out of the trials due to a niggle.
Sarita Mor, a world championships bronze medallist and the world no.1 in the 59kg weight division, sealed her spot in the 57kg by defeating Lalita 4-0 in the final.
Another worlds bronze medallist Pooja Dhanda, meanwhile, was stunned by Mansi Ahlawat with a 2-0 defeat and conceded the 59kg spot.
Mansi Ahlawat, has been in top form this year and won gold at Almaty Ranking Series in June without losing a point in the championship.
Asian championships bronze medallist Sushma Shokeen pipped Pinky in the 55kg on the virtue of scoring the last point after the bout was tied 3-3.
U20 world championships silver medallist Priyanka (76kg) and bronze winner Reetika (72kg) were among other names to make the cut for the world championships.
CWG bronze medal winners Pooja Gehlot (50kg), an unfit Divya Kakran (68kg) and Pooja Sihag (76kg) skipped the trials.
The two-day men’s trials for the world championships are underway in New Delhi and will conclude on Tuesday.
The men’s trials will be held for all 10 weight categories with exemptions to Bajrang Punia (65kg), Ravi Dahiya (57kg) and Deepak Punia (86kg), who won gold medals at the recently-concluded Commonwealth Games in Birmingham.
Indian women’s team for World Wrestling Championships 2022
Ankush (50kg), Vinesh Phogat (53kg), Sushma Shokeen (55kg), Sarita Mor (57kg), Mansi Ahlawat (59kg), Sonam Malik (62kg), Shefali (65kg), Nisha Dahiya (68kg), Reetika (72kg) and Priyanka (76kg).
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