Ravi Dahiya, Deepak Punia among 14-member squad for special camp in Bulgaria

The Sports ministry has approved training of the 14-member wrestling squad, including Olympic silver medalist Ravi Dahiya and Deepak Punia, who missed the medal in Tokyo Games, for a special camp from February 5 to 23 in Teteven, Bulgaria.

The Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) has recommended the names of 14 wrestlers which include four freestylers, four Greco-Roman wrestlers, four sparring partners and two coaches, for a special training camp for the preparations of CWG and Asian Games.

On their return, they will join the National Camp for 83 male wrestlers which is being scheduled at the Sports Authority of India (SAI) Centre in Sonipat. At the same time as many as 48 women, wrestlers will be in the National Camp in the SAI Centre in Lucknow.

The national camps being organised by the WFI from February 7 to March 31, are also being fully funded by the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports.

"We appreciate the speedy approval from SAI for the wrestlers' camp and special training ahead of the Asian Championships, the Commonwealth Games and the Asian Games," Wrestling Federation of India President Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh said.

"With such support by the Ministry and SAI, our athletes can continue to deliver results on the international stage. We have widened our talent pool to ensure good bench strength," he said.

At the camp in Sonipat, a total of 14 coaching and support staff will assist the wrestlers while the women's camp in Lucknow will have 10 coaching and support staff.

The squad for a special camp in Bulgaria: Ravi Dahiya, Deepak Punia, Gourav Baliyan and Sandeep Singh (Freestyle); Sunil Kumar, Sajan Bhanwal, Ravi Malik and Ashu (Greco-Roman); Arun, Arun Kumar, Monu Dahiya, and Hardeep (sparring partners): Coaches: Balwant Singh Chikara and SB Prasad.