Olympic silver-medalist Ravi Dahiya eliminated early from Asian Games trials
The Olympic silver medalist Ravi Dahiya was eliminated by Atish Todkar in a stunning "pin," but it was Aman Sehrawat who won the 57kg trials to earn a spot at the Asian Games on Sunday. The shocking outcome wasn't the only thing that caused a stir at the IG Stadium early in the day.
Todkar won an incredible match 20-8 'by fall'. The underdog dodged Dahiya's attacks by slipping under his arms and reversing direction to prepare for takedowns. In the second round, Dahiya held a slim 6-4 lead, but after that, Todkar's two takedowns in a row and his four-pointer from the edge of the mat completely changed the picture of the match.
But all this could be due lack of match practice after coming back from an injury. "Ravi had suffered both ACL and MCL tears in his right knee on February 6. We started training in early April and he began practising full throttle about 10 days back. He needed competition and lack of it, hurt him," Dr. Munesh Kumar, who looked after Dahiya's rehabilitation told PTI.
Meanwhile, after defeating Dahiya and Naveen (7-3), Todkar fell to Rahul in the semifinals. In the end, Asian champion Aman Sehrawat won against Rahul Aware 9-6. On the other hand, Vishal Kaliraman won the 65kg trials despite having a swollen right eye from an injury sustained in his initial match. He resolved to gain the opportunity to represent India in this division, where Bajrang Punia has already been awarded a direct entrance, and he won the trials.
Sujeet, who had unsuccessfully petitioned the High Court to have the exemption granted to Bajrang overturned, was defeated by Rohit in the quarterfinals of the same category. In the championship match, Vishal and Rohit faced off. The Hisar wrestler overcame a 1-4 deficit to win 9-3.
"I just wanted to win the trial today. Even if Bajrang was here today, I would have won, I was determined to win. We respect him for his achievements but what they are doing may destroy the careers of junior players," Kaliraman, 25, said after his win.
After winning the trials, he was not ready to accept that he would only be a stand-by in the 65kg division. "We will fight this, if we have to go to Supreme Court, we will go. We have been training for 15 years now. They just can't give him entry like that," he added.