World Wrestling Championships | Bajrang Punia, Ravi Kumar lose in semis, Sakshi Malik ousted in first round

In the men's freestyle 65kg category Bajrang Punia was defeated by Daulet Niyazbekovof of Kazakhstan in the semi-finals by criteria: one four-point move, as the bout ended 9-9. The move which won the Kazakh the match was reviewed by India that was a point crucially lost in hindsight. Punia had beaten Son Jong-chol of North Korea 8-1 in the 65kg quarterfinal and booked his Olympic berth by entering the semi-finals

In the men's freestyle 57kg category, Ravi Kumar went down 4-6 to world champion Zaur Uguev in the semifinals. Kumar was down 0-6 at a point that matched the circumstances from which he made a comeback in his pre-quarterfinal match but could not repeat his success. He took out Yuki Takahashi 6-1 in the quarters.

Both Bajrang Punia and Ravi Kumar have booked their Tokyo Olympics berth with India now having three wrestlers qualified for the Olympics.

Olympic bronze medallist Sakshi Malik, however, lost 7-10 in a closely contested opening round bout against Nigeria's Aminat Oluwafunmilayo Adeniyi in the women's 62kg category. Sakshi was 0-6 in the first minute against the Nigerian and despite picking up two points on the counter, she trailed by the end of the first period. Sakshi picked five more points in the second period but Adeniyi held on to her lead to win the bout 10-7. Sakshi is still in contention for a repechage should Adeniyi reach the final.