COVID-19 sees indefinite postponement of Asian Olympic qualifier
The Asian Olympic Qualifiers for wrestling that was to be held from March 27 to 29 in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan has been postponed indefinitely so as to fight the spread of coronoavirus. The qualifiers had originally been intended to be held in X'ian, China on the same dates before being shifted to Bishkek due to the outbreak of the deadly virus in the country.
When contacted, the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) said that it is yet to get any official communication from Kyrgyzstan or the sport's global governing body -- United World Wrestling (UWW) -- on the matter. "We have sent a letter to UWW and we are waiting for their reply. Until we get any official communication on the matter from the international body we won't be able to take any action," WFI assistant secretary Vinod Tomar told IANS.
But a report in a Kyrgyz news agency confirmed the same.
"At an operational meeting led by director of the State Agency Kanat Amankulov, it was decided to postpone a number of major international sports events planned in Kyrgyzstan to later dates," said Kyrgyzstan's State Agency for Youth, Physical Culture and Sports of the Kyrgyz Republic in a notice, acccording to the agency.
Indian wrestlers who have made it to the team that was to go to Bishkek for the qualifiers will continue their training in foreign countries for the time being, said Tomar. While the frestyle wrestlers are set to train in Makachkala, Russia, the women wrestlers will be training in Kiev, Ukraine. The Greco Roman wrestlers will be training in Baku, Azerbaijan.
