It was a vibrant Wednesday (August 4) for India on the Tokyo Olympics as wrestlers Ravi Kumar Dahiya and Deepak Punia each stormed into semifinals. Ravi Dahiya defeated Bulgaria’s Georgi Vangelov within the 57kg freestyle class with a complete 14-4 margin whereas Deepak Punia obtained previous China’s Zushen Lin within the 86kg class with a 6-3 margin within the quarterfinal bouts.
Dahiya will now tackle Kazakhstan’s Nurislam Sanayev for a proper to enter the gold medal struggle within the 57kg class whereas Punia will tackle United States’ David Morris Taylor within the semifinal. Both the bouts will happen later within the afternoon on Wednesday.
Earlier, Dahiya and Punia started their Olympics campaigns with technical superiority victories, reaching the boys’s freestyle 57kg and 86kg quarterfinals respectively with ease. The 19-year-old Anshu Malik although misplaced the ladies’s 57kg opener to European champion Irina Kurachikina of Belarus 2-8.
Ravi In Semis! 0#RaviDahiya continues together with his good type to defeat Georgi Valentinov of Bulgaria 14-4 to succeed in the semifinal of Men’s Freestyle 57 Kg. Stay tuned for extra. #Cheer4India pic.twitter.com/bvocQKf7Yf
— SAIMedia (@Media_SAI) August 4, 2021
The fourth-seeded Dahiya constantly attacked the precise leg of Colombia’s Tigreros Urbano and he remained dominant, aside from conceding a take-down within the first interval. Dahiya, the reigning Asian champion, nailed the win with one minute and 10 seconds nonetheless remaining within the bout, which was stopped after he raced to a profitable 13-2 lead.
The Indian effected 5 take-down strikes within the second interval, displaying his technical prowess. Deepak Punia (freestyle 86kg) made probably the most of a straightforward draw by getting previous Nigeria’s Ekerekeme Agiomor, the African championship bronze medallist.
The Nigerian had the ability however Deepak was technically sound and gained comfortably. Asian champion Anshu made a robust comeback after conceding a 0-4 lead towards the Belarusian with two push out factors.
Deepak Reaches Semifinal!
India’s @deepakpunia86 wins towards Lin Zushen of China 6-3 to succeed in the semifinal of Men’s freestyle 86 Kg.
Stay tuned for extra updates. #Cheer4India pic.twitter.com/IBJXE26TvA— SAIMedia (@Media_SAI) August 4, 2021
She additionally managed to pay money for Kurachikina’s proper leg however couldn’t full the transfer. On the counter assault, Anshu conceded one other two-pointer however saved preventing. The European relied on her expertise to prevail.
Anshu’s possibilities to come back again within the competitors will rely on Kurachikina’s progress. If the Belarusian makes the ultimate, Anshu will get a repechage spherical.
(with PTI inputs)
