After more than 48 hours of uncertainty, a 12-member Indian wrestling team has landed in the Bulgarian capital Sofia to take part in the World Olympic Games Qualifiers to be held from May 6.
The team was originally supposed to travel via Amsterdam but, according to Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) assistant secretary Vinod Tomar, the concerned airlines cancelled the tickets as the Netherlands Governmentimposed a ban on Indians flying out of their country. “Our president (Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh) approached the Ministry of External Affairs. Following negotiations with the Dutch and French embassies, both countries relaxed travel formalities for the Indian wrestlers on a priority basis.
“Finally, we booked the tickets on a flight via Paris and our wrestlers boarded the flight on Thursday night,” said Tomar.
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India has selected three wrestlers each in men and women freestyle categories and six in Greco Roman weights for the qualifying event.