Nur-Sultan (Kazakhstan), Sep 19 (UNI) Star Indian wrestler and World no 1 Bajrang Punia 65kg and Ravi Kumar 57kg won their respective quarter-final bouts to enter the semi-final in the men's freetyle category and also qualified for Tokyo Olympics here on Thursday.
The Asian Games and Commonwealth gold medallist Bajrang thumped Jong Chol Son of N Korea 8-2 in the 65kg quarter-final and also pocketed Olympic berth.
Minutes ahead of Bajrang Punia's quarter-final bout, another Indian Ravi Kumar Dahiya 57 kg also won the quarter-final bout against Yuki Takahashi 6-1 and also booked Olympic quota. He had taken out Korea's Kim Sunggwon 11-4 earlier in the day.
Bajrang took a 5-0 lead in the first round of the 65 kg bout while his opponent managed to pick up 2 points after the restart, but it was not enough to pull off a win against the Indian grappler.
Earlier in the day Bajrang defeated David Habat of Slovakia 3-0 in the pre-quarters and entered into the quarterfinals.
In an another match, Rio Olympics bronze medallist Sakshi Malik lost to Nigerian grappler Aminat Oluwafunmilayo Adeniyi 7-10 in 1st round (62 kg).
Malik conceded a 6-0 lead in the first round. She managed to make a comeback in the second round, but it was not enough for her to pull off a comeback win.
Sakshi, however, isn’t out of the tournament yet. If Aminat Oluwafunmilayo Adeniyi reaches the gold medal match then Sakshi has a shot at the Bronze medal through the Repechage rounds.
Meanwhile, Asian Games bronze medallist Divya Kakran (68kg) went down 0-2 in a completely one-sided opening bout against reigning Olympic and former world champion Sara Dosho of Japan. However, Kakran still has a chance of entering the repechage round if her opponent makes it to the final.
Ravi Kumar pulled off a 11-0 win over Korea’s Sunggwon Kim via technical superiority in Men’s 57 kg category.
Earlier on Wednesday, Vinesh Phogat sealed India an Olympic quota in the women's 53 kg freestyle event before winning her maiden World Championships medal. The Asian Games and Commonwealth Games champion ended her drought for a world meet medal with a bronze.
In the semi-final, Bajrang Punia will face Daulet Niyazbekov of Kazakhstan, whereas Ravi Dahiya will take on Zavur Uguev of Russia later in the evening.
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