'It will be painful': Wrestlers hope their sport is not left out of 2026 Commonwealth Games final roster

Commonwealth Games (CWG) to be held in Australia's Victoria state doesn't include three sports that India has regularly fielded its athletes in and also won many medals in. Wrestling, shooting and archery are not part of the initial list of 16 sports announced by the CWG Federation earlier this week, when it revealed Victoria as the host for the 2026 edition. The coaches and wrestlers part of the ongoing men's national camp at the Sports Authority of India (SAI) centre in Sonepat were taken aback by the news. TimesofIndia.com recently visited the camp that's on to prepare for the Asian Championships in Mongolia. "I wasn't aware of this," said Ravi Dahiya, silver medallist (57kg) from the Tokyo Olympics held in 2021, talking to Timesofindia.com

(Ravi Dahiya - Photo: Times Internet)"Wrestling is an ancient sport. It has been there since the first Olympics (1896). We all should raise our voice against this move. UWW (United World Wrestling) should step in," added Dahiya, who is a product of the 'akhara' at Delhi's Chhatrasal Stadium. While the host CWG nation can decide the sports it wants to roster (besides the mandatory sports - athletics and swimming), wrestling was on the Olympics chopping block as well for Tokyo 2020. But six months after wrestling was voted as one of the sports that could be axed from the 2020 Olympics (eventually held in 2021), it was brought back, defeating bids from baseball, softball and squash. The wrestlers hope history is repeated. "It's a wrong decision. Wrestling is a popular sport and should remain (in the CWG 2026 roster)," said coach Sujeet Maan, who has been working specifically with Tokyo Olympics bronze medallist Bajrang Punia in the camp here. "I wasn't aware of this news. If this is