Indian freestyle wrestlers fall short of Paris Games qualification

Representational Image (Pic: AFP)

In a huge setback to Indian wrestling, Aman Sehrawat missed out on securing a berth for the Paris Olympics after losing his semifinal at the Asian Olympic Qualifier while Deepak Punia and Sujeet Kalkal were not allowed to compete after they reported late for weigh-in, on Friday.

Competing in 57kg category, Aman began in tremendous fashion, trampling his first two rivals -- Yerassyl Mukhtaruly and Sunggwon Kim -- by technical superiority but was pinned by Uzbekistan's Gulomjon Abdullaev after falling behind by 10 points.

A lot of hope rested on Aman, who has emerged as one for the future in a category in which Ravi Dahiya excelled.

Among all the wrestlers in men's free style category Asian Games bronze medallist Aman was the country's biggest hope to win a quota place.

Abdullaev began with a left-leg attack and converted that into a take-down. The Uzbek rattled Aman with a sensational four-pointer and within no time, the Indian was under pressure to make a comeback. It made him slow while the speed with which Abdullaev created opportunities helped him clinch the contest.

Struggling at the edge of a circle to wriggle out of Abdullaev's hold, Aman seemed to have given up and was pinned.

In 74kg, Jaideep had a great start as he pinned Turkmenistan's Al Arslan Begenjov but lost his quarterfinal to Kyrgyzstan Orozobek Toktomambetov on criteria after being locked 2-2.

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Sumit Malik (125kg) also lost his first round to Kyrgyzstan's Lkhagvagerel Munkhtur by technical superiority while Deepak (97kg) faded in qualification round, losing by technical superiority to Arash Yoshida.

This was after both Punia and Sujeet eventually managed to reach Bishkek after being stranded at the Dubai international airport due to incessant rain and flooding but could not report for the mandatory weigh-in on time.

The organisers did not allow late weigh-in despite request from the Indian coaches.

Punia (86kg), who had come close to winning a medal at the Tokyo Games, and Sujeet (65kg), were on their way to Bishkek when a majority of the flights leaving Dubai got cancelled or delayed because of the flooding at the airport.

The duo, accompanied by Russian coach Kamal Malikov and physio Shubham Gupta, were forced to sleep on the floor and had no access to proper food due to the crisis in Dubai.

Punia and Sujeet trained in Dagestan, Russia from April 2 to 15 and decided to fly from Makachkala to Bishkek via Dubai.

Vinesh Phogat will be in action on Saturday when the women's selection event begins.

Asia Olympic qualifiers is the second-last qualifying event for Paris Olympics. The last chance to qualify for Paris Games will be the World Qualifiers in Turkey in May.

(With agency inputs)