Aman Sehrawat and Sujeet Kalkal move closer to securing Olympic quota as Deepak Punia bows out after first round defeat – Firstpost

Deepak Punia’s hopes of representing India at this year’s Paris Olympics were dashed by a crushing first-round defeat at the World Wrestling Olympic qualifiers in Istanbul on Saturday.

Youngsters Aman Sehrawat and Sujeet Kalkal, however, moved closer to securing the nation’s quotas after qualifying for the semi-finals.

So far, five Indian wrestlers have earned their Olympic quota, all women. Nisha Dahiya (68kg) became the latest Indian to do so after winning her 68kg semi-final at the Istanbul qualifiers on Friday.

None of the Indian wrestlers have so far secured their quota in Paris and they will have one last chance to do so in Istanbul.

Aman, the U23 world champion and also the senior Asian Championship title winner, was expected to put on a strong show and the 20-year-old did not disappoint.

He scored points comfortably in both his fights, winning 10-4 against Georgi Valentinov Vangelov before defeating Ukrainian Andrii Yatsenko.

Yatsenko was quick but Aman proved too strong for him. Repeatedly locked in armlocks, Aman found ways to attack his rival’s right leg and converted them into takedown moves. He won by technical superiority, without conceding a single point against the Ukrainian.

He will now face the North Korean Chongsong Han.

Punia (86 kg), who missed out on a bronze medal at the Tokyo Games by a whisker, came up against a very powerful Zushen Lin of China in his first bout and ended up losing 4-6 despite his first place.

Punia, the most experienced wrestler in the Indian team, was quick in his attack in the first half, which he ended with a 3-0 advantage.

However, the Chinese turned the tables on the Indian, starting with a double attack which he converted into a takedown for two points. He rolled Punia to make it 4-3.

Running out of time, Punia was quick in his movements and looked for a two-point shot near the edge of the circle, but the referee awarded a push point. The Chinese were always ahead of the criteria. He ended Punia’s hopes with another takedown.

The Chinese then lost his quarter-final, thus closing the repechage route to the Indian.

Sujeet, who competes in a category that the famous Bajrang Punia had made his own, expected to put on a fighting spectacle, winning 3-2 against Uzbekistan’s Umidjon Jalolov and following up with a technical superiority victory against the Korean Junsik Yun.

A tougher test awaits Sujeet in his category as he takes on the formidable Mongolian Tulga Tumur-Ochir, Asian Games champion and Asian Championships silver medalist.

In the 74kg category, Jaideep Ahlawat pulled off a superb four-point double attack after being down 1-3 to win 5-3 against Moldovan Vasile Diacon and advance to the pre-quarter-finals.

He also won his next fight by technical superiority against the Austrian Simon Marchl, but lost his quarter-final meekly 0-3 against the Slovakian Taimuraz Salkazanov. However, he remains in the running. If the Slovakian reaches the final, Jaideep will get his chance via the repechage route.

Earlier in the day, Deepak (97kg) and seasoned Sumit Malik (125kg) lost their first round bouts.

With PTI inputs