Explained: Bajrang Punia and Ravi Dahiya lose national trials but can they still qualify for Paris O

Bajrang Punia and Ravi Dahiya both won medals for India at Tokyo Olympics. But their chances of Paris have taken a hit after losing in national trials. Could they still make it, though?The Tokyo Olympic medallists for Indian wrestling – Bajrang Punia and Ravi Dahiya – didn’t win the national trials in Sonipat and hence won’t be representing the country at the Asian Olympic trials in Kyrgyzstan (April 19-21) and the World Olympic trials in Turkey (May 9-12). Do the two have a chance to qualify for the Olympics? Here’s an explainer: What’s next for Bajrang? Tokyo bronze medallist Punia lost to Rohit in the semifinals of the 65 kg category at the national trials on Sunday. However, Punia gave up the chance to finish in the top-four of the trials by not appearing in the placings bout against Vishal Kaliraman. When the officials made the third and final call, Kaliraman was also not on the mat. However, in the official results sheet Kaliraman was placed fourth. “Officials claimed they were informed that Kaliraman was present at the wrestling hall. That is why he was placed fourth,” an ad hoc committee member said. Bajrang officially gave ‘medical’ as the reason for not appearing for the third-fourth place playoff. Yet, the official result mentions 2VIN (both wrestlers injured) against the Bajrang-Kaliraman bout. Bajrang’s pathway to Paris may not be shut as there is a school of thought that Olympic medal-winners from Tokyo should be invited for the May 31 trials to determine the challenger, who will take on the Olympic quota winner for the right to go to Paris.Ravi Dahiya, the silver medalist in the 57 kg category didn’t qualify for the semifinal. However, in the bout to determine the third and fourth-placed wrestlers, Rahul didn’t turn up and hence forfeited the match to Shubham, who finished third. The official results sheet has bumped up Dahiya to fourth place.The winner of the national trials is the wrestler representing India at both the Olympic trials; Asian and World. If there is an Olympic quota winner in a weight category, that wrestler will have to defeat a challenger on June 5 in order to represent India at the Paris Olympics, according to the ad-hoc committee rules. To determine the challenger in each category, a trial will be held on May 31. The wrestlers who finished second, third and fourth at this event will be eligible for the May 31 trial. So if Sujeet Kalkal (65 kg), who won the national trials, goes on to win an Olympic quota, he will have to fight the winner of the May 31 trials. Rohit, Anuj, and Kaliraman, the wrestlers who finished second, third and fourth at the national trials on March 10 will compete in this weight class. If Tokyo Olympic medalists are called for the trials, Bajrang too will be in the mix.Is the criteria different in the women’s 53 kg category? Yes, in the women’s 53kg Antim Panghal had already won a quota by winning a bronze medal at last year’s World Championships. So the top four at the national trials in the 53 kg category will appear for trials on May 31 to determine the challenger who will fight Antim on June 5. The top 4 are Anju, Pooja, Vinesh Phogat and Nancy. Since Antim has already bagged a quota, no Indian wrestler will go for the Asian and World Olympic qualifiers in the 53kg category. Antim also has a direct entry to participate in the 2024 Asian Championships. How are Vinesh Phogat’s chances of qualifying for the Olympics? Vinesh participated in both the 50kg and 53kg category at the national trials in Patiala on Monday. She won the 50kg trials and hence will be representing India in this weight category at the Asian and World Olympic qualifiers, and has a chance to win a quota. She will also participate in the 53 kg trials on May 31 and if she wins, she will be the challenger for Antim, the quota winner.How does a wrestler win a quota at the Asian Olympic Qualifier and the World Olympic Qualifier? The top two wrestlers in each weight category at the Asian qualifiers will win a quota each for their respective countries. World Olympic Qualifiers offer three quotas in each weight category, the United World Wrestling website states.