Nur-Sultan (Kazakhstan): Bajrang Punia qualified for Tokyo Olympics by strolling into the semifinals while Ravi Dahiya joined him with shock victories over his more fancied rivals in the World Wrestling Championships here Thursday.
Making full use of an easy draw in the 65kg category, Bajrang Punia steam-rolled one opponent after another to stay on course for his maiden World Championships title. He had won a silver medal in Budapest in 2018.
Double Olympic medallist Sushil Kumar is the only Indian wrestler to have won a World Championship gold in 2010 in Moscow.
Ravi Dahiya emerged an unlikely hero for India with his remarkable composure while fighting against some of toughest opponents in a challenging category, including a European champion and another a World No.3 wrestler.
Both Bajrang and Ravi are now strong candidates for medals.
Bajrang Punia did not have to work much in going past Poland’s Krzysztof Bienkowski in the opening round. He easily beat his opponent 9-2. Bajrang’s next opponent was David Habat who did not bother the Indian much. Bajrang, in the quarterfinals against Korea’s Jong Choi Son, lost a point for stepping out but won the bout comfortably 8-1 after that.
In an incredible debut, Ravi Dahiya won the first two bouts by technical superiority in the 57kg. Then in a remarkable turnaround he erased a six-point deficit to log 17 points in a row with his counter-attack to shock Arsen Harutunyan, the 61kg European champion from Armenia.
What was impressive about Ravi was that despite trailing 0-6, he kept his cool and stayed in the bout and eventually found a way to tear apart the defence of the Armenian.
In the quarterfinals, Ravi he was up against 2017 World Champion and World No.3 Yuki Takahashi. However, the Indian showed tremendous composure to eke out a 6-1 win.
In the women’s segment, there was no end to the woes of Rio Olympic bronze medallist Sakshi, who lost her opening round 7-10 to Nigeria’s Aminat Adeniyi. The Indian waited too long to attack while her powerful opponent moved quickly. Luck also did not help Sakshi Malik and she exited the tournament as the Nigerian later lost her quarterfinal bout.
PTI