Reigning World Champion Pooja Kadian will spearhead a 10-member Indian squad at the 1st Asian Sanda Cup to be held in Guangzhou, China from December 13-17.
Apart from Kadian, World Championships bronze medallist Rajinder Singh and K. Arunpama Devi are the other star players in the Indian squad.
The medallists from the last Asian Championships are eligible to compete at this tournament. India were also awarded a wild card entry in the form of Mukesh Chaudhary in the men's 70 kilogram category.
India coach Rajvir Singh asserted that all the Indian players will bag medals at the tournament.
"All 10 of our players will return with medals. I am expecting a few gold medals as well," Singh told IANS on Sunday.
"China and Iran are the strongest sides in the fray, but we will give them a tough fight. Vietnam and Philippines are also good teams. I expect a strong challenge from them," he added.
"This competition will help the Indian team to prepare for next year's Asian Games as the best players of Asia will participate. The Indian players will get an opportunity to compete with the best players in the continent whom they will face at the Asian Games as well."
--IANS
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