Star grappler Yogeshwar Dutt would seek to grab an Olympic quota place in his first opportunity when he spearheads a 17-member Indian campaign at the Asian Olympic Qualification wrestling championship, starting here on Friday.
It will be a tough three-day competition from March 18-20, considering that only the top two finishers in each weight category here will secure an Olympic berth for a country.
This is the second qualifying event for the Rio Games. The first was held last year at the World Championship in las Vegas, where just one Indian in Narsingh Yadav bagged a quota place for the country in Men's 74kg freestyle.
With India's entry at Rio de Janeiro ensured in 74kg category, no one will be competing in this category. Sushil Kumar also fights in the same weight division as Narsingh.
Yogeshwar, who pulled out of the 2015 World Championship due to an injury, has the best chance of grabbing an Olympic berth for India.
Yogeshwar had won bronze at the last Olympics in Men's 60kg Freestyle but since then moved up to 65kg after the international governing body FIlA re-jigged the weight classes at end of 2013.
While Yogeshwar remains India's best bet here, men's freestyle team also comprises the likes of Rahul Aware (57kg) and Satyawart Kadiyan (97kg), both of whom according to chief national Freestyle coach Jagminder Singh have good chance of earning Olympic berths too. In the women's section, both the Phogat sisters — Babita Kumari (53kg) and Vinesh Phogat (48kg) — have the ability to book Olympic quota.