Vinesh in Indian wrestling team for Kazakhstan wrestling tournament

NEW DELHI: An eight-member Indian wrestling team, including Commonwealth Games gold-medalist Vinesh, will compete in the 5th President's Cup to be held at Astana, Kazakhstan from July 23 to 26.

The selection committee headed by Wrestling Federation of India President Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh selected the players on the basis of their performance during the trials conducted in Lucknow on July 6.

Some top Indian players will be seen in action in the tournament. Besides Vinesh (48 Kg), Commonwealth Games silver-medallist Lalita Sehrawat (55 Kg) and 2011 Commonwealth Championship 2011 gold-medallist Sakshi Malik (58 Kg) will also compete in the tournament.

"The International Wrestling Tournament in Kazakhstan will be an ideal opportunity for our team to get exposure before going into the World Championship. We will not leave any stone unturned in preparation of our wrestlers, as we want more and more female wrestlers to qualify for Rio Olympic Games from the first qualification event ( World Wrestling Championship)," Sharan Singh said.

The tournament will see participation from 20 nations including India, Kazakhstan, Russia, Japan, Korea, USA, Mongolia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Turkey, Brazil, China, Greece, Georgia, Italy, Sweden, Canada and Maldives.

The team is scheduled to depart for Kazakhstan tomorrow from New Delhi.

The team: Vinesh (48 Kg), Nirmala Devi (53 Kg), Lalita (55 Kg), Sakshi Malik (58 Kg), Sarita (60 Kg), Anita (63 Kg), Navjot Kaur (69 Kg), Nikki (75 Kg)

The support staff: Roin Doborjgde (Foreign Expert), Manjeet Rani (Coach), Subhash Bhardwaj (Coach) and Satya devi Malik (Referee).