ISTANBUL: Deepak Punia was knocked out of the Paris Olympic Games qualification race after a crushing defeat in the first round, but youngsters Aman Sehrawat and Sujit Kalkal came close to securing a quota by reaching the semi-finals of the World Qualifiers here on Saturday.
No Indian male wrestler has qualified for the Games yet and this is the last chance to secure a spot.
A strong performance was expected from U23 World Champion and Senior Asian Championship title winner Aman and the 20-year-old did not disappoint.
He scored comfortably in both his matches, winning 10–4 against Georgy Valentinov Vangelov before defeating Ukraine's Andriy Yatsenko.
Yatsenko was faster but Aman proved too strong for him.After being arm-locked several times, Aman found a way to attack his opponent's right leg and turn it into a take down move. He won on the basis of technical superiority without losing a single point against the Ukrainian player.
Now he will face North Korea's Chongsong Han.
Punia (86kg), who missed out on a bronze medal at the Tokyo Games by a narrow margin, faced the very powerful Zhushen Lin of China in his first encounter and lost 4-6 despite taking the lead.
Punia, the most experienced wrestler of the Indian team, launched a strong attack in the first round, which he finished with a 3-0 lead. However, the Chinese turned the tables on the Indians by starting with a double-leg attack, which they converted into a takedown move for two points. H rolled Punia and made the score 4-3.
With time running out, Punia was quick in his moves and looked for a two-point near the edge of the circle but the referee gave a push-out point.The Chinese were still ahead on the test. He ended Punia's hopes with another takedown.
The Chinese player later lost his quarterfinal, closing the repechage for the Indian. Sujeet, who competes in the category that the great Bajrang Punia created his own, put in a fighting performance as expected and registered a 3-2 win against Uzbekistan's Umidzon Jalolov. After this he achieved a technical victory against Junsik Yun of Korea. Won as the outstanding winner.
Sujit will face a tough test in his category as he will again take to the mat against reigning Asian Games champion and Asia Championships silver medalist Mongolia's formidable Tulga Tumur-Ochir.In the 74kg weight category, Jaideep Ahlawat came from 1-3 down with a brilliant four-point double-leg attack to win 5-3 against Moldova's Vasile Diaco and enter the pre-quarterfinals.
He also won his next bout against Austria's Simo Marchal by technical superiority, but lost 0–3 to Slovakia's Taimuraz Salkajanov in the quarter-finals, although he still remains in the running. If the Slovakian reaches the final, Zaidi will get a chance through the repechage route. Earlier during the day, Deepak (97kg) and veteran Sumit Malik (125kg) lost their first-round bouts.
No Indian male wrestler has qualified for the Games yet and this is the last chance to secure a spot.
A strong performance was expected from U23 World Champion and Senior Asian Championship title winner Aman and the 20-year-old did not disappoint.
He scored comfortably in both his matches, winning 10–4 against Georgy Valentinov Vangelov before defeating Ukraine's Andriy Yatsenko.
Yatsenko was faster but Aman proved too strong for him.After being arm-locked several times, Aman found a way to attack his opponent's right leg and turn it into a take down move. He won on the basis of technical superiority without losing a single point against the Ukrainian player.
Now he will face North Korea's Chongsong Han.
Punia (86kg), who missed out on a bronze medal at the Tokyo Games by a narrow margin, faced the very powerful Zhushen Lin of China in his first encounter and lost 4-6 despite taking the lead.
Punia, the most experienced wrestler of the Indian team, launched a strong attack in the first round, which he finished with a 3-0 lead. However, the Chinese turned the tables on the Indians by starting with a double-leg attack, which they converted into a takedown move for two points. H rolled Punia and made the score 4-3.
With time running out, Punia was quick in his moves and looked for a two-point near the edge of the circle but the referee gave a push-out point.The Chinese were still ahead on the test. He ended Punia's hopes with another takedown.
The Chinese player later lost his quarterfinal, closing the repechage for the Indian. Sujeet, who competes in the category that the great Bajrang Punia created his own, put in a fighting performance as expected and registered a 3-2 win against Uzbekistan's Umidzon Jalolov. After this he achieved a technical victory against Junsik Yun of Korea. Won as the outstanding winner.
Sujit will face a tough test in his category as he will again take to the mat against reigning Asian Games champion and Asia Championships silver medalist Mongolia's formidable Tulga Tumur-Ochir.In the 74kg weight category, Jaideep Ahlawat came from 1-3 down with a brilliant four-point double-leg attack to win 5-3 against Moldova's Vasile Diaco and enter the pre-quarterfinals.
He also won his next bout against Austria's Simo Marchal by technical superiority, but lost 0–3 to Slovakia's Taimuraz Salkajanov in the quarter-finals, although he still remains in the running. If the Slovakian reaches the final, Zaidi will get a chance through the repechage route. Earlier during the day, Deepak (97kg) and veteran Sumit Malik (125kg) lost their first-round bouts.