World Wrestling Championships | Semi-final win secures Olympic berth for Deepak Punia
Deepak Punia on Saturday pulled off a last gasp comeback win over his Colombian opponent to advance to the final in his debut at the prestigious tournament while also ensuring his place at the Tokyo Olympics. As for the other wrestlers, the Indians had a mixed day at the office in Kazakhstan.
Deepak Punia, competing in his first ever Senior Wrestling World Championships, overcame a strong challenge posed by Carlos Aturo Mendez in the 86 kg semi-finals to progress to the title round of the tournament. Having won the gold medal at the World Junior Championships in Estonia only a month back, becoming the first Indian to do so in 18 years, Punia has now become the fourth wrestler from the country so far to have qualified for next year’s Olympics.
With only a minute to go, he was struggling and was three points down as the scoreboard read 3-6. However, in a spectacular sequence, he managed to pull of a takedown followed by an expose move to end up winning 7-6. Switzerland's Stefan Reichmuth now awaits him in the gold medal clash.
Meanwhile, Rahul Aware made his way to the 61kg semifinals after defeating local wrestler Rassul Kaliyev 10-7 in the last-eight in a thrilling encounter to secure his berth in the penultimate round. However, Jitender failed to achieve similar success in the 79kg category, losing 0-4 against Slovakia's Taimuraz Salkazanov in what was a one-sided affair. Mausma Khatri bowed out in the first round itself after being drawn against reigning Olympic champion Kyle Frederick Snyder.
Previously, Vinesh Phogat, Deepak Punia and Ravi Dahiya had all ended on the lowest rung of the podium to become the first set of Indians to confirm participation in next year’s sporting extravaganza.
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