Wrestlers Ravi Dahiya and Deepak Punia have been nominated for the Arjuna Award

The Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) nominated Olympic-bound Indian wrestlers Ravi Dahiya and Deepak Punia for the Arjuna award on Wednesday. The WFI has also nominated 19-year-old Anshu Malik and Sarita Mor for the prestigious award.

At the 2019 World Championship in Nur Sultan, Deepak and Ravi put on outstanding performances. The former was awarded a silver medal, while his comrade was awarded a bronze medal, as well as a trip to Tokyo. Ravi has established himself as a medal contender in the 57kg category, where he is seeded fourth. He had defended his Asian championship in Almaty before winning silver at the Poland Open.

Advertisement

Anshu Malik, on the other hand, has won five medals in six events including the Asian title since beginning her senior wrestling career in 2020. Sarita Mor won the Asian title in 59kg in Almaty but was unable to qualify for the Olympics.

“All four wrestlers have done well and deserved recognition, so we have sent their application. We have also nominated coaches Vikram, Kuldeep Malik, and Sujeet Maan for the Dronacharya award,” WFI Assistant Secretary Vinod Tomar was quoted as saying by PTI.

It should be mentioned that Kuldeep Malik, the national women’s coach, has already received the Dhyanchand award. As a result, there’s a potential that his application for Dronacharya would be rejected. Sujeet Mann was a four-time Asian medalist in wrestling before joining the Railways as a coach. Between 2011 and 2019, he served as the national coach for the Indian men’s freestyle squad.

In the lifetime accomplishment category (Dronacharya), the WFI has nominated Jagroop Rathi, R K Hooda (secretary of the Haryana wrestling association), and R S Kundu. WFI has nominated Sajjan Singh, Jai Prakash, and Dushyant Sharma for the Dhyanchand award.