New Delhi: It was relief for wrestler Sakshi Malik as she qualified for the Indian squad for the Budapest World Championships without facing trials. Her opponent Sarita Mor withdrew from the 62kg clash, due to an injury. Sakshi has so far had a poor year with only the CWG bronze to show for her efforts. The Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) wanted both Sushil Kumar and Sakshi to undergo trials but the former pulled out due to poor form. “Sakshi was to fight Sarita but she has reported a knee injury so we are sending Sakshi to the Worlds,” WFI assistant secretary Vinod Tomar said Monday. Sakshi had finished runner-up at a UWW ranking event in Belarus recently.
Sakshi had ended a runner-up at a UWW ranking event in Belarus, where she lost the gold medal match 2-6 to Ajerbiajan’s Marianna Satsin Sunday. The performance is encouraging for Sakshi ahead of the World Championship, to be held in Budapest from October 20-28.
“The fourth category is women’s 53kg. Ritu Phogat and Pinky will fight for that place. Ritu had competed in the 50kg category at the Yasar Dogu International in Turkey but we feel she can do well in the 53kg as well. She has a good medal chance in this category, so, we decided to conduct a trial match between Ritu and Pinky,” Tomar added.