13-member Indian Wrestling team announced for Zagreb Open

NEW DELHI: The IOA-appointed ad-hoc panel overseeing the

Wrestling Federation of India

(WFI) on Tuesday announced a 13-member squad for the upcoming

Zagreb Open

in Croatia after the resolution of visa procurement issues.
This first world ranking event of the year will be held in Croatia's capital from January 10 to 14.
The WFI is currently under the administration of a three-member committee appointed by the Indian Olympic Association following the Sports Ministry's suspension of the Sanjay Singh-led federation due to constitutional breaches.

Leading the ad-hoc panel is Bhupinder Singh Bajwa.

"Thanks to a timely intervention by the Ministry of External Affairs, the 25 Indians due to travel to Zagreb will complete the visa formalities on Wednesday," Bajwa said in a press release issued on Tuesday.
"The team was facing difficulty in securing a visa appointment. However, the Ministry of External Affairs has helped the team in this regard."
The ad-hoc committee chairman said the Croatian

Wrestling

Federation Secretary-General Tin Bregovic had sent a letter of invitation for the 13 wrestlers, nine coaching and support staff and three referees.

"We have taken every step to ensure that the team reaches Zagreb well in time for the tournament," Bajwa said.
"We have ensured that India's Olympic hopefuls would compete in their respective weight class along with a 2kg weight allowance in the first ranking event of the Olympic year," he said.
"We are confident that the 13 who will compete in Zagreb will make the most of the chance to prepare for the Asian Qualification tournament in April and the World Qualification tournament in May."
The team:
Men Freestyle: Aman (57kg); Yash (74kg), Deepak Punia (86kg), Vicky (97kg) and Sumit (125kg).
Greco-Roman: Gyanender (60kg), Neeraj (67kg), Vikas (77kg), Sunil Kumar (87kg), Narinder Cheema (97kg) and Naveen (130kg).
Women: Sonam (62kg) and Radhika (68kg).
Coaching and support staff: Kuldeep Singh (team leader and coach), Vinod Kumar, Sujeet, Shashi Bhushan Prasad, Manoj Kumar, Virender Singh and Alka Tomar (coaches); Vishal Kumar Rai (physiotherapist) and Neeraj (masseur).
Referees: Satya Dev Malik, Dinesh Dhondiba Gund and Sanjay Kumar.
(With inputs from PTI)