Wrestler Ravi Kumar Dahiya wins gold at Yasar Dogu 2022
On Sunday, Indian wrestler Ravi Kumar Dahiya won the gold medal in the men's 61kg category at the Yasar Dogu 2022 ranking series in Istanbul, Turkey. Dahiya, who won a silver medal at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, dominated the qualifiers from the start, cruising past countryman Mangal Kadyan.
In the main draw, the Indian wrestler defeated Italy's Shamil Makhmudovitch Omarov (7-2), the United States' Nicholas Daniel Megaludis (10-2), and Iran's Mohammadbagher Esmaeil Yakhkeshi (by fall). Ravi Kumar Dahiya was pitted against Gulomjon Abdullaev, a former junior Asian champion from Uzbekistan, in the gold medal match.
He won the medal match by a razor-thin 11-10 margin over Abdullaev to become the new Yasar Dogu champion. Meanwhile, Mangal Kadyan made the repechage thanks to Ravi Kumar Dahiya, who reached the final but lost to Omarov.
Two other Indian wrestlers, Deepak Punia (92kg) and Aman (57kg), won bronze medals on Sunday alongside Ravi Kumar Dahiya. Deepak Punia, a semi-finalist at the Tokyo Olympics, qualified for the bronze medal match by repechage after losing his quarter-final match to Iran's Ahmad Yousef Bazrighaleh.
Deepak Punia earned a podium finish after defeating Kyrgyzstan's Mirlan Chynybekov in the repechage and Kazakhstan's Elkhan Assadov 7-1 in the medal bout. Viky from India competed in the 92kg division and was eliminated in the quarterfinals.
In the 57kg division, Aman lost in the semi-finals to Georgia's Beka Bujiashvili but won the bronze medal by defeating Mongolia's Zanabazar Zandanbud 10-5. Pritam advanced to the semi-finals of the men's 74kg division before losing to world bronze medalist Fazli Eryilmaz of Turkey. In the medal match, the Indian grappler was defeated by two-time Asian champion Islambek Orozbekov due to technical superiority.
In the men's 65kg division, India's Rohit had a good run, winning two matches, but was eventually eliminated in the quarterfinals by Kazakh wrestler Ikromzhon Khadzhimurodov. Bajrang Punia, the Olympic bronze medalist in the 65kg, was supposed to be India's second entry, but he had to withdraw due to a leg injury he sustained during practice.
After their first bouts, Vishal Kaliramana (70kg), Gourav Blaiyan (79kg), and Sandeep Singh (86kg) all bowed out.
INDIAS MEDAL WINNERS
Ravi Kumar Dahiya - gold (men’s 61kg)
Deepak Punia - bronze (men’s 92kg)
Aman - bronze (men’s 57kg)
Gyanender - bronze (Greco Roman 60kg)