New Delhi: The next year’s Continental qualifiers offering spots for the Paris Olympics will not have gold or bronze medals bouts and the winners of the two semifinalists will make the cut for the 2024 Games, according to the new format approved by the world governing body UWW.
Apart from four Continental Qualifiers, the World Qualifier will also not offer gold medal and the two semifinal winners will earn quotas while the winners of the bronze-medal bouts will compete for the third quota in each of the six weight categories in three styles.
The Pan-American Qualifiers in Acapulco, Mexico from February 28 to March 1 will open the qualification opportunities.
“All five Paris Olympic Qualifiers next year will have four seeds in each of the weight classes and no gold-medal bouts,” UWW said on its website.
African & Oceania Qualifiers will be held in Alexandria, Egypt from March 22-24 and the European Qualifiers in Baku, Azerbaijan are scheduled to take place from April 4-7.
The Asian Qualifiers will be held in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan from April 19-21 while the World Olympic Qualifier will be held in Istanbul, Turkiye from May 9-12.
The World Championships held in Belgrade, Serbia in September this year had offered five quota places in each of the six weight categories in three styles.
Talented Antim Panghal was the only Indian wrestler to have won a Paris Games quota with a bronze medal in Belgrade.
PTI

Press Trust of India