New Delhi [India], January 28 : Former India wrestler and Commonwealth gold medallist Yogeshwar Dutt is hopeful that five to six grapplers will qualify and win medals in the Paris Olympics 2024.
As of now only, Antim Panghal has qualified for the Paris Olympics after her sensational performance in the World Championships last September.
She produced an upset by defeating the defending champion Parrish in the opening round. She stumbled in the semi-finals as she lost to Vanesa Kaladzinskaya of Belarus.
But she went on to bag a bronze medal with a dominating win over two-time European champion Jonna Malmgren, which secured her berth in the Paris Olympics.
Yogeshwar was faithful that more wrestlers will qualify for the upcoming competition and told ANI, "For the past four Olympics, Indian wrestlers have won medals for the country. We hope this trend continues in the 2024 Paris Olympics. But wrestling for the past year has been in a mess. So, far only one wrestler has qualified Antim Panghal. I have full faith that our 5-6 wrestlers will qualify for the Olympics and win medals. When PM Modi meets its players after the Olympics, Asian Games and Commonwealth Games it motivates them. PM Modi especially takes care of them then it is big. After poor performance in the Rio Olympics he introduced TOPS schemes and with the help of that lot of money was spent on players. The result is there for everyone to see."
Deepak Punia will be one to look out for as in the last edition he missed out on a bronze medal after losing to San Marino's Nazem Amine. Ravi Dhaiya is another wrestler who will be looking to leave his mark after winning a silver medal at the Tokyo Olympics.
Yogeshwar went on to point out the upcoming grapplers who have the potential to qualify for the Olympics.
"Last time Deepak missed out on a bronze in the last few seconds. Ravi Dahiya won silver. He has recovered from injury recently. Aman is young and has good performance under his belt. Antim is a World Championship medallist. She won a medal in Asian Games too in the 53 kg weight category. She is a potential prospect for an Olympic medal and so is Aman. Deepak Punia is there. So, there are many," Yogeshwar added.
The Paris Olympics will begin on July 26 and will run till August 11.
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