Tokyo, Aug 4 (IANS) | Indian wrestler Ravi Kumar Dahiya assured India of another medal as he entered the finals by defeating Kazakhstan’s Nurislam Sanayev in the semi-final bout of wrestling men’s freestyle 57kg at the ongoing Tokyo Olympics here. Another wrestler Deepak Punia (86kg) lost to David Morris Taylor of America in the semi-finals. Ravi defeated NoorIslam 7-9 via victory by fall in the semi-final match. Ravi was trailing 7-9 but Noorislam could not continue the game due to injury and thus Indian wrestler Ravi made it to the final.
With this, Ravi has ensured the country’s fourth medal in the Tokyo Olympics. They will now get at least a silver medal if they reach the finals. However, his eyes will be on getting the gold medal. Ravi made his debut in Tokyo in the best possible way. Ravi defeated Colombia’s Oscar Tigers 13-2 in the opening bout. He won this bout by technical superiority. He then defeated Bulgaria’s Giorgi Vangelov 14-4 in the quarter-finals to reach the semi-finals.
Meanwhile, Deepak was defeated in a one-sided fashion by David in the semi-final match. David attacked Deepak as soon as he landed on the mat, which the Indian wrestlers could not break and they lost 0-10. Deepak also performed brilliantly in the freestyle 86 kg. quarter In the final match, he defeated China’s Jushen Lien 6-3 to enter the semi-finals. Deepak may have lost in the semi-finals but he will have a chance to win the bronze medal.
Earlier, women’s wrestler Anshu Malik suffered a 2-8 loss at the hands of two-time World Championship bronze medalist Irina Kurachkina of Belarus in her first bout. However, if Irina manages to reach the finals, Anshu will have a chance to re-enter through the repage route. Anshu had secured the Tokyo 2020 quota during the Asian Olympic Qualifiers in April.