New Zealand will send a female wrestler to the Commonwealth Games for the first time this year as the womens freestyle discipline makes its debut at Delhi 2010.
Sian Law (29) from Tawa, Wellington has long been New Zealands top female wrestler but is yet to test her mettle outside Oceania. Having finished in second place at the Oceania Championships in 2010 Law will be focused on a strong result at Delhi. Law is part of a team of six wrestlers named today, including five male and one female.
Im pretty excited, said Law who is coached by former Olympic and Commonwealth Games wrestler Graeme Hawkins. Going to the Commonwealth Games has been a goal of mine since I started wrestling. I always strive to be the best and the Commonwealth Games is considered big international tournament
She says a womens event has been included to reflect international trends. Overseas significant numbers of young women are wrestling, she said. While New Zealand has a small number female wrestlers, the US has hundreds in each weight class and this is growing.
Team Coach Mark Grayling says Law will face tough competition from the Canadian and Indian wrestlers in Delhi and, along side her team mates, will head offshore next month as part of the team's final preparations. The team will compete at the Spanish Grand Prix and British Cup before heading to Russia for the the Wrestling World Championships in Moscow.
While in New Zealand, wrestling is a comparatively small sport, on a world scale its huge," said Grayling. "To put it in perspective there are around eight million rugby players but eighty million wrestlers. Attending international competitions is a crucial part of team preparation our wrestlers have to be match-fit and mentally prepared and international competition is the only way to achieve this.
This international experience has been hard to come by for the New Zealand wrestlers. While have had a small amount of funding for 2010, generally the wrestlers and coaches fund their own training and competition programmes," continued Grayling. "Combined with the fact that wrestling has featured at the Commonwealth Games only twice in the past twenty years, our wrestlers have found it difficult to gain international experience.
In spite of this, however, the team to Delhi does include some strong prospects. Hamiltons Aaron Quinlan at 36 years of age has extensive Oceania experience in the 96kg freestyle discipline and has recovered from a recent neck injury to be on track for Delhi. At the other end of the age spectrum 22-year-old Andrei Paulet who moved to New Zealand from Rumania eight years ago is in his first year of senior competition having been New Zealands top junior wrestler.
Andrei trained in wrestling in Romania before he emigrated and struggles to find wrestlers to test himself against in New Zealand. As a result Andrei will base himself in Romania for the final pre-Delhi preparation.
The mens freestyle contingent also includes Stephen Hill (84kg) and heavyweight Nick Lane in the 120kg class.
Greco-Roman wrestler, Christchurchs Sam Belkin (96kg), has been selected to the team as the first to represent New Zealand in this ancient discipline at the Commonwealth Games.
New Zealand has won a total of 27 wrestling medals including two golds at the Auckland games in 1950 and again in Christchurch in 1974. New Zealand last won a Commonwealth Games medal in wrestling at the 1986 Commonwealth Games in Edinburgh. Wrestling was not on the Melbourne Commonwealth Games event schedule.
The New Zealand team will come together in October to honour Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay. The Commonwealth Games take place in Delhi, India from 3 14 October 2010. The New Zealand team is expected to number approximately 185 athletes over 17 sports. The Games will be attended by 71 Commonwealth nations and 4500 athletes.
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The New Zealand Wrestling team to Delhi is:
Female Freestyle
U51kg: Sian Law (22years) Tawa, Wellington
Male Freestyle
U-120kg: Nick Lane (39 years) - Wellington
U-96kg: Aaron Quinlan (36 years) - Hamilton
U-84kg: Stephen Hill (28 years) - Christchurch
U-66kg: Andrei Paulet (22 years) Central Auckland
Male Greco-Roman
U-96kg: Sam Belkin (22 ) Christchurch
To find out more about the NZOC please visit www.olympic.org.nz.
To find out more about the campaign to honour Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay www.29028.co.nz .
For more information please contact:
Ashley Abbott
Communications Manager
Mb: +64 21 552021
www.olympic.org.nz
Mark Grayling
Head Coach
Wrestling New Zealand
0274514153
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