Indian wrestlers Ravi Dahiya and Deepak Punia have made the semifinals of their respective categories by winning their semifinal bouts at the ongoing Tokyo Olympics on Wednesday. While Ravi defeated Bulgarian Georgi Valentinov 14-4 in men’s 57 kg freestyle event, Deepak outlasted Zushen Lin of China in men’s 86 kg category.
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Both the India grapplers earlier started their campaigns with technical superiority victories in the pre-quarters.
The 19-year-old Anshu Malik though lost the women’s 57kg opener to European champion Irina Kurachikina of Belarus 2-8. However, her hopes of entering are still alive with Kurachikina entering the semifinals of the category.
The fourth-seeded Dahiya consistently attacked the right leg of Colombia’s Tigreros Urbano in the pre-quarters and he remained dominant, apart from conceding a take-down in the first period.
Dahiya, the reigning Asian champion, nailed the win with one minute and 10 seconds still remaining in the bout, which was stopped after he raced to a winning 13-2 lead.
The Indian effected five take-down moves in the second period, showing his technical prowess.
Dahiya will take on Nurislam Sanayev of Kazakhstan, a two time world medalist, in the semifinal bout later today.
Deepak (freestyle 86kg) made the most of an easy draw by getting past Nigeria’s Ekerekeme Agiomor, the African championship bronze medallist in the pre-quarters. The Nigerian had the power but Deepak was technically sound and won comfortably.
Having beaten Lin in the closely fought quarterfinals, Deepak now takes on David Morris Taylor III of the USA in the last-four clash.
Meanwhile, Asian champion Anshu made a strong comeback after conceding a 0-4 lead against the Belarusian with two push out points. She also managed to get hold of Kurachikina’s right leg but could not complete the move.
On the counter attack, Anshu conceded another two-pointer but kept fighting. The European relied on her experience to prevail. Anshu’s chances Kurachikina’s progress. If the Belarusian makes the final, she will get a chance in the repechage round.
With PTI Inputs
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