Olympic-bound wrestler Deepak Punia among three wrestlers to test positive for coronavirus

New Delhi: 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.

The wrestlers had converged at the SAI Centre in Sonepat for the national camp, which began on Tuesday. The other two are Navin (65 kg) and Krishnan (125 kg). After hockey players and shuttlers, wrestlers are another lot of elite athletes to test positive for the virus at different SAI centres during national camps.

All wrestlers were tested, upon arrival, as per the SAI SOP for the resumption of sports activities. SAI said they have been moved to an SAI empanelled hospital as a precautionary measure.

“As per protocol all wrestlers along with the coaches and support staff were made to undergo mandatory RT-PCR test for COVID-19. During the test wrestlers, Deepak Punia-86KG, Navin-65KG and Krishan-125KG were found positive and have been moved to an SAI empanelled hospital as a precautionary measure and for further monitoring,” SAI said in a statement.

Deepak made the Olympic cut by settling for silver in the World Championships held in Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan, last year. Bajrang Punia (65 kg), Ravi Dahiya (57 kg) and Vinesh Phogat (53 kg) were the other Indian wrestlers to qualify for the Tokyo Games by winning medals in the Worlds.