Focus on Vinesh as two race against time

Phogat in spotlight ahead of Asian Oly qualifiers; Deepak & Sujeet in danger of missing event after travel hurdle

- FIROZ MIRZA

DEEPAK Punia (86kg) and Sujeet Kalkal (65kg) will need loads of luck if they wish to book Paris Olympics tickets this time as their transit at the Dubai International Airport got delayed by a few more hours on Thursday evening.

Stranded at the airport since Tuesday, the duo has to reach Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan before weigh-in on Friday morning. The weigh-in starts at 8am.

However, their flight which earlier was scheduled to take off by midnight got delayed by a couple of hours. The new schedule, if not changed, means they could now reach Bishkek by 7 in the morning.

This gives them only an hour to clear the immigration and complete other formalities before rushing to the venue hosting the Asian Olympic Games Qualifier. 

The Day One of the event on Friday will see bouts in freestyle followed by women wrestling and Greco-Roman competitions on Saturday and Sunday, respectively.