Three senior male wrestlers, including world championship silver-medallist Deepak Punia, have tested positive for COVID-19, the Sports Authority of India (SAI) said on Thursday. Besides the Olympic-bound Punia (86kg), the other two wrestlers who have tested positive for the virus are Navin (65kg) and Krishan (125kg). All three are part of a national camp at the SAI Centre in Sonepat ahead of which the wrestlers are in quarantine. “Three senior men’s wrestlers, who had reported to the National Wrestling Camp at SAI Centre in Sonepat, have tested positive for COVID -19 virus,” the nodal sports body said in a statement.
With his silver at the worlds, Punia had secured a place for himself at the Tokyo Olympics. They have been moved to a SAI empanelled hospital as a precautionary measure for further monitoring.
All wrestlers were tested, upon arrival, as per the SAI SOP for resumption of sports activities. As per protocol, all wrestlers along with the coaches and support staff underwent the mandatory RT-PCR test to detect COVID-19 on arrival.
When contacted, the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) said they were not aware of the development. All the wrestlers assembled for the camp on September 1. Training will start after they complete a 14-day quarantine.
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