Wrestling, Asian Olympic Qualifiers: Deepak Punia, Sujeet Kalkal fail to make weigh-ins in time

Indian grapplers Deepak Punia and Sujeet Kalkal were not allowed to take part in the Asian Olympic Qualifiers after the duo failed to reach Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, on time to participate in the weigh-ins on Friday.

The duo had been stranded at the Dubai airport since Tuesday, according to reports, after flights were cancelled due to the unprecedented flooding and rains in the United Arab Emirates.

Weigh-ins for their categories – 65kg for Kalkal and 86 kg for Punia – were scheduled to take place early morning on Friday with their respective bouts taking place later on in the day.

According to the Sports Authority of India, the two wrestlers were then scheduled for a flight to Bishkek on Thursday night.

However, despite the Indian wrestlers reaching the city soon after 8 am on Friday, organisers did not allow them to participate since they reached the wrestling venue late.

As reported by The Indian Express, the duo are travelling with coach Kamal Malikov and physio Shubham Gupta.

While the other Indian wrestlers, including Asian Games and Commonwealth Games medallist Vinesh Phogat, travelled directly from India, Punia and Kalkal were training in Russia between April 2 and 15 and then were due to travel to Bishkek on April 16.

However, they travelled to Bishkek via Dubai.

Punia had narrowly...

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