The Asian Olympic wrestling qualifiers, scheduled to be held next month in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, were cancelled due to concerns over the coronavirus outbreak, United World Wrestling stated in a letter. No alternate date or plan has been announced as yet.
The cancellation comes after the Kyrgyzstan government had come out with a directive to postpone all sporting events in the country till further notice in the wake of the epidemic, which has killed close to 3,000 people and infected nearly 80,000 globally.
The event was slated to be held from March 27 to 29. The Chinese city of Xi’an was slated to play host to the tournament earlier but it was moved to Bishkek due to the outbreak of coronavirus in the country.
“Today UWW has received the information that the Kyrgyz government has decided to take measures against the spread of the COVID-19, and such measures unfortunately include the cancellation of the Asian OG Qualifier that had been previously reallocated to the city of Bishkek,” said the letter signed by Secretary General Michel Dusson.
The letter further said that they are considering other solutions after discussions with the International Olympic Committee next week.
A 14-member Indian squad, including youngsters Jitender Kumar and Sonam Malik, was announced for the Asian qualifiers. India have already booked a berth in four of the eight Olympic wrestling categories with Ravi Dahiya (57kg), Bajrang Punia (65kg), Deepak Punia (86kg) and Vinesh Phogat (53kg) making it to the top sporting event.
With PTI Inputs