Tokyo Olympics | Ravi Dahiya storms into wrestling final, assured of medal
Deepak Punia will fight for bronze medal after he was outclassed by formidable American David Morris Taylor in the 86kg semifinals
Ravi Dahiya on Wednesday became only the second Indian wrestler to qualify for the gold medal clash at the Olympic Games when he sensationally turned around the 57kg semifinal by pinning Kazakhstan’s Nurislam Sanayev here.
The fourth seeded Indian was trailing 2-9 when Sanayev effected a few ‘fitley’ (leg lace) moves to pull ahead but as the clocked ticked away, Dahiya regrouped and got hold of his rival with a double leg attack that resulted in a victory by fall.
Before this, Sushil Kumar was the only Indian to make the gold medal bout in 2012 London Games and settle for a silver.
The 23-year Dahiya had won both his previous bouts on technical superiority en route the final.
Dahiya outclassed Colombia’s Tigreros Urbano (13-2) in his opener and then outwitted Bulgaria’s Georgi Valentinov Vangelov (14-4).
