Olympian Anshu Malik failed to cement her place in the national team for the third world ranking series in Mongolia. She was outclassed by Neha Sangwan in selection trials.
The third world ranking series in wrestling in Ulaanbaatar from May 29 to June 1 in Mongolia will witness a new crop of Indian wrestlers taking centrestage.
The national selection trials held on May 12 (men) and May 13 (women) in Lucknow and Delhi, respectively, turned out to be an exciting event as several experienced wrestlers, including Olympian Anshu Malik, weren’t successful in holding the challenge of young wrestlers to earn a place in the national squad.
“Experienced wrestlers shouldn’t take it for guaranteed that their position is secure as several talented youngsters have shown they are ready to graduate to senior level,” a senior wrestling coach said. “More youngsters cementing their places in the national team for Mongolia hints that there is huge bench strength.”
Teenage wrestler Neha Sangwan, a world and Asia U17 champion, outclassed Anshu to firm her position in the women’s57kg category for the Mongolian world ranking series during the national selection trials held in Delhi under the aegis of the Wrestling Federation of India.
To prepare the elite wrestlers for the ranking series, the WFI has organised national camp from May 1 in Delhi for women’s and men’s freestyle/Greco Roman camp in Lucknow. The national camps are in fact back to normal after a huge gap of nearly two years as the sports ministry had suspended WFI for lack of good governance.
During the suspension period the ministry didn’t sanction national camps. However, the government recently revoked the WFI suspension and sanctioned a grant of Rs30 crore for international exposure and national camps.
Meanwhile, Paris Olympic bronze medallist Aman Sehrawat will return to competition at Mongolia’s world ranking series. By virtue of his past performance the WFI has given Sehrawat direct entry for the third world ranking series. Apart from the Paris Olympic Games bronze medallist, WFI has selected Rahul in the men’s 57kg freestyle event.
Wrestlers who had won medals at the 2025 Asian wrestling meet held in Jordan in March were also given automatic places in the national team for the Mongolian tournament. The ranking series is part of India’s preparation for the world championships scheduled in Croatia later in the year.
Team: Women: Antim Panghal (53kg), Neha Sangwan (57kg), Neelam (50kg), Pushpa (55kg), Muskan (59kg), Manisha (62kg), Sikhsa (65kg), Monika (68kg), Harshita (72kg), Reetika (76kg).
Men Greco Roman Anil(55kg), Suraj (60kg), Chetan (63kg), Neeraj (67kg), Ankit Gulia (72kg), Nishant Phogat (77kg), Prince (82kg), Karan Kamboj (87kg), Nitesh (97kg), Prem (130kg).
Freestyle: Aman Sehrawat, Rahul (57kg), Udit (61kg), Rohit (65kg), Vishal (70kg), Jaideep(74kg), Amit (79kg), Ashish (86kg), Deepak Punia (92kg), Dinesh (125kg).
