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Deepak Punia and Sujeet Kalakal’s chances of qualifying for the Paris Olympics were hampered when the two Kyrgyzstan-bound Indian wrestlers were stranded at Dubai International Airport due to unprecedented rains in the Gulf country. Deepak (86kg), who came close to winning a medal at the Tokyo Games, and Sujeet (65kg), were on their way to Bishkek to participate in the Asian Olympic Games qualifiers, the penultimate qualifying event for the Paris Olympic Games, starting on Friday. However, the pair were left stranded at Dubai airport after the heaviest rainfall on record to hit the country left major highways and roads flooded and one of the world’s busiest airports in disarray.
The pair, accompanied by Russian coach Kamal Malikov and physiotherapist Shubham Gupta, were forced to sleep on the floor and did not have access to adequate food due to the crisis caused by the rain.
Deepak and Sujeet weigh in at 8am on Friday, while the fights are scheduled for later in the day.
“They have been stuck at Dubai airport since April 16 and it looks like their chance to qualify for the Paris Olympics is slipping out of their hands as they are scheduled to compete tomorrow. They are not getting any flights to Bishkek. I am worried about them,” Dayanand Kalakal, Sujeet’s father, told PTI.
Deepak and Sujeet were training in Dagestan, Russia from April 2 to 15 and decided to fly from Makachkala to Bishkek via Dubai.
The last chance to qualify for Paris will be the world qualifiers in Turkey in May.
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This story originally appeared on ndtv.com read the full story
