China's national wrestling team gears up for World Championships

BEIJING, June 21 (Xinhua) -- After a breakthrough performance of two silver and two bronze medals at the Tokyo Olympics, China's national wrestling team is looking forward to another impressive result at September's Wrestling World Championships.

The team will leave for Europe in mid-July to compete in international wrestling tournaments in Romania and Poland.

"Players who perform well in those two games will most likely be selected for the World Championships," team manager Shen Hong said.

The team has held three trials this year to select the squad and all competitions were played under new international rules.

"The young players are ready to come out for the tournaments after months of training and the international competitions are good to mature their skills," Shen said.

China is sending a younger team to Europe as Walihan Sailike, the Tokyo Olympics men's Greco-Roman 60kg bronze medalist, is absent due to injuries and vaults to 67kg if he comes back.

The Tokyo Olympics women's freestyle silver medalists Sun Yanan (48kg) and Pang Qianyu (53kg) are not called up for the squad for surgery recovery in May.

In the build-up to Paris 2024, China's national wrestling team invited the Olympic gold medalist and 3-time world champion Anatoly Beloglazov of Russia to coach the women's freestyle.