Asian Championship is next challenge for Vinesh, Bajrang; Divya, Dhankar return to Indian team

Vinesh Phogat will get to test herself in her new 53kg category when she competes at the senior Asian Wrestling Championship along with Bajrang Punia and Sakshi Malik as India on Sunday named a 30-member squad for the event, to be held in China next month.

The Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) conducted trials for women in Lucknow on Saturday and for men in Sonepat on Sunday.

Bajrang, who competes in the 65kg category, recently won a gold in UWW Dan Kolov-Nikola Petrov tournament in Bulgaria where Vinesh competed in the 53kg for the first time and settled for a silver.

The Rio Olympic bronze medallist Sakshi had also won a silver but in the 65kg while Pooja Dhanda won a gold in 59kg.

At the Asian championship, scheduled for April 23 to 28, Sakshi will go back to her original 62kg category and Navjot Kaur will represent India in 65kg.

Asian Games bronze medallist Divya Kakran will return to competitive wrestling after recovering from an ankle injury. She will compete in the 68kg category.

National champion Amit Dhankar booked a berth in the 74kg while Maharashtra wrestler Rahul Aware made a comeback to the Indian team by winning the trails in 61kg.

Indian squad:
Free Style: Ravi Kumar (57kg), Rahul Aware (61kg), Bajrang Punia (65kg), Rajneesh (70kg), Amit Dhankar (74kg), Praveen Rana (79kg), Deepak Punia (86kg),
Greco Roman Style: Manjeet (55kg), Gyanender (60kg), Vikram Kumar (63kg), Ravinder (67kg), Yogesh (72kg), Gurpreet Singh (77kg), Harpreet Singh (82kg),
Sunil Kumar (87kg), Hardeep Singh (97kg) and Prem Kumar (130kg)
Women Wrestling: Seema (50kg), Vinesh (53kg), Lalita Sehrawat (55kg),