Bajrang has it easy at quiet trials

NEW DELHI:  The men’s team which will represent India at the World Championships were identified after selection trials in five Olympic categories took place at the KD Jadhav Indoor Stadium in New Delhi early on Friday. The 57kg and 97kg categories saw quite a few tussles while the star attraction of the day — Bajrang Punia had an easy outing.

About 600 people had thronged the venue to catch a glimpse of Bajrang, India’s brightest medal hope for the Tokyo Olympics. But his mere presence led to most competitors staying away. Only the reigning national champion Harphul Singh stood in his way but he did not even last the full six minutes, suffering a knee injury at the 3:62 mark when the Asian Games gold medallist got hold of his right leg. Bajrang was leading 7-0 at that time. The World No 1 even helped his opponent off the mat as doctors tended to his knee. “It is not nice to see a fellow competitor suffer an injury like this.

After all, we are all brothers. Also, the fans were expecting to see me in action for longer as well,” Bajrang said after his bout.Another easy category was 86kg which also featured only two grapplers — upcoming youngster Deepak Punia and Pawan Saroha. The 20-year-old Deepak, who has considerable international experience, comfortably won 5-0.

This will be his first appearance at the Worlds. “I’m just looking forward to doing my best in Kazakhstan. Before that, I’m also taking part in the junior world championship and it will be my last event in the junior section,” the wrestler from Chhatrasal stadium said. The 57kg saw seven grapplers vying for the lone spot. And the category saw some high-quality contests along with a few upsets with Ravi Dahiya emerging victorious in the end, beating Rahul in the summit clash.

Initially, Rahul was on fire as he went on a giant-killing spree, beating Commonwealth Championship silver winner Utkarsh Kale before getting the better of 2016 Rio Olympian Sandeep Tomar in the semifinal. However, he was no match for Ravi in the final as he lost 2-12. Ravi showed superior technique and defence in both his bouts.

A few exciting bouts were witnessed in the 97kg category as well. Mausam Khatri emerged winner by beating Satyawart Kadiyan 8-1 in the final. Kadiyan, Rio medallist Sakshi Malik’s husband, could not cope with Khatri’s counter-attacks. This will be Khatri’s second-straight appearance at the Worlds. Last year, he had lost out in the very first round.

Also making the cut was Sumit Malik in the 125kg category. He beat Satender 3-0 in the fin­al. While there were initial app­rehensions regarding safety, no such issue cropped up as bo­th Sushil Kumar and competitor Parveen Rana did not take part.