New Delhi: In a move which has come as a jolt to Indian wrestling, the game's world governing body Fila announced a rejig in weight classes on Wednesday . The new regulations are a part of Fila's attempts to modernise the ancient sport.
According to the new rules, two weight classes have been added to women's freestyle while one each has been reduced from men’s freestyle and GrecoRoman categories. This will also be applicable in the Commonwealth Games and Asian Games.
At the Olympics, the 55kg, 60kg and 66kg categories in mens’ freestyle have been eliminated and have been replaced by the 57kg and 65 kg. The 85kg, 96kg and 120kg categories have been replaced by 86kg, 97kg and 125kg respectively.
Sushil Kumar and Yogeshwar Dutt, who have won Olympic medals in the 66kg and 60kg freestyle events respectively, will probably have to move to a new category.
Yogeshwar said the decision to drop the two categories will hit Indian wrestlers hard.
“Our preparations for the Rio Olympics will be affected. I will move to a higher category and hope that Sushil also moves to 74kg. You can’t imagine both of us competing against each other in 65kg,” he said.
