Lucknow | Deepak Punia's "unintended "move to a higher weight category paid rich dividends as he stormed into the Indian team in 97kg division, while Olympic bronze medallist Aman Sehrawat and the formidable Sujeet Kalkal retained their places in the men's freestyle squad at the Asian Games selection trials here on Sunday.
The trials largely followed expected lines, with established names holding on to their positions, but Deepak's successful transition from 86kg caught attention.
Competing in the 97kg division after spending most of his international career at 86kg, Deepak looked comfortable against bigger opponents and capped his impressive campaign by pinning Jointy Kumar in the final to seal his berth in the Indian squad.
The 26-year-old's move to 97kg was not part of a long-term plan. Deepak revealed that an injury suffered a few days before the trials forced him to abandon his weight-cutting routine and take a chance in the higher category.
"I didn't intend to change my weight category. I was preparing for 86kg and had recently competed at 92kg. Around five-six days ago, I suffered an injury and couldn't train. My weight was already around 91-92kg and the doctors advised me to focus on recovery instead of cutting weight because it could aggravate the problem," Deepak said.
"Since I missed training for five-six days, my weight increased a little more. Then I decided to give 97kg a try and put in my best effort. I had prepared well and wanted to give 100 per cent in this category," he added.
Deepak first won the Open Ranking Series event in Gonda at 92kg, and the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) allowing medal winners from that event to compete in the trials opened a pathway for him to get back to the Indian team.
He began his campaign with 4-0 wins over Sahil Jaglan and Deepak Chahal before beating reigning U-23 Asian champion Vicky, who also won a bronze medal at this year's Zagreb Open, by a convincing 7-3 margin in the semifinals.
The victory over the in-form Vicky was widely considered Deepak's toughest challenge of the day and underlined his readiness for the new division.
There were no such complications for Aman, India's lone wrestling medallist in the Paris Olympics. The 57kg star once again underlined his supremacy in the category, crushing Rahul 11-1 by technical superiority in the final.
Sujeet continued his remarkable consistency in the 65kg division, edging past Vishal Kaliramana 2-0 in a tactical final to earn his place in the national team.
The 74kg category produced the day's biggest upset when fancied Abhimanyou was knocked out in the quarterfinals by Yash Tushir. However, it was Sagar Jaglan who eventually emerged victorious, defeating Jaideep 8-6 in a closely fought final.
In 86kg, Mukul Dahiya lived up to expectations by beating Amit 4-2 in the title bout, while Rajat Rahul secured the heavyweight 125kg berth with a 10-6 win over Dinesh.
The Greco-Roman competitions also concluded on Sunday, with Sumit defeating Chetan 9-5 in the 60kg final. Deepak also continued his winning run in Greco-Roman wrestling, beating Neeraj 10-6 by fall in the 67kg final.
Aman prevailed over Vijay 6-5 in the 77kg final, while Sunil defeated Rohit Bura in the 87kg title clash.
India's men's freestyle squad for the Asian Games:
57kg: Aman Sehrawat
65kg: Sujeet Kalkal
74kg: Sagar Jaglan
86kg: Mukul Dahiya
97kg: Deepak Punia
125kg: Rajat Rahul
Greco-Roman winners:
60kg: Sumit
67kg: Deepak
77kg: Aman
87kg: Sunil
97kg: Nitesh
130kg: Deepanshu.
