Indian wrestler Sumit Malik, who secured his berth in the men’s 125g freestyle event at the Tokyo Olympics on Thursday, may be forced to withdraw from Friday’s World Olympic Wrestling Qualifiers final against Russia’s Sergei Kozyrev.

Sportstar has learnt that the 28-year-old Commonwealth Games champion is struggling with a knee injury. Sumit picked up the injury before the Asian Qualifiers last year and had suffered a ligament tear. He went on to recover and was back on the mat soon after but the injury has resurfaced. The injury had troubled him at the Asian Wrestling Championships last month as well, where he chose to skip the repechage round due to injury after losing in the quarterfinal.

“These injuries take time to heal because your knee is always in action when you move. We’ve got the masseuse and the physio working on his knee. His final is in the evening and we hope that he will be fit to fight by then. We will consult the team doctor and weigh the pros and cons before making a final decision,” a source in the camp said.

Sumit earned a comprehensive 5-0 win over Venezuela’s Jose Diaz to storm to the final, thereby assuring himself of a spot at the Tokyo Olympics. He will be making his first Olympic appearance.  He is the fourth Indian men’s freestyle grappler to qualify for the Tokyo Olympics, following the likes of Ravi Kumar Dahiya (57kg), Bajrang Punia (65kg) and Deepak Punia (86kg). Vinesh Phogat (53kg), Anshu Malik (57kg) and Sonam Malik (62kg) have qualified among the women wrestlers.