Bajrang Puniya, Ravi Dahiya, Deepak Puniya and Vinesh Phogat have all confirmed their Tokyo 2020 appearances. With the Tokyo Organising Committee for the Olympic Games (Tokyo) 2020 releasing the wrestling competition schedule, the picture now is clear which Indian wrestler will be starting his campaign when.
Among the elite four, Ravi and Deepak will open India’s campaign on August 5.
Vinesh Phogat will be representing India in the women’s 53 kg category. The world number two will begin her campaign on August 6. If all goes well for Vinesh, she will play her gold medal match on August 7. Pak Yong-mi (Korea) and Mayu Mukaida (Japan) are the other two strong contenders for the 53kg gold.
Repechage round in the category are also slated for August 7.
In 85kg, Deepak Punia will begin his campaign from August 5. The quarter-finals and semi-finals on the same day. The finals for gold takes place the next day. The repechage match will take on August 6 which will give a shot for bronze. His biggest challenges for the road to gold medal will be Hasan Aliazam Yazdani Charati of Iran.
The 65kg men’s category is strongest and full of heavyweights. Bajrang would be gunning for the gold with the likes of Gadzhimurad Rashidov (Russia), and Daulet Niyazbekov (Kazakhstan). The Russian and the Kazakh are respective No. 1 and No. 3 wrestlers in the UWW World rankings, separated by Bajrang.
The action in the 65 kg freestyle would start from August 7, with quarter-finals and semis to be played on the same day. The gold and repechage matches will be played on August 8.
Ravi Kumar Dahiya will launch his challenge for the gold on August 5. The big threats to his dreams are Zavur Uguev (Russia) and Suleyman Atli (Turkey). Finals will be played August 6.
The schedule:
Women Wrestling, 53kg: If all goes well for Vinesh, her schedule for the road to final would be:
Day 5 (Thursday, August 6):
11:30-12:50: Pre-Quarters
12:50-13:30 – Quarterfinals
18:15-19:15 – Semi-finals
Day 6 (Friday, August 07):
11:00-11:30 – Repechage
19:30-22:00 – Gold and Bronze Medal Finals
Men Wrestling, 57kg: Ravi Kumar Dahiya road to final would be:
Day 4 (Wednesday, August 5):
11:30-12:50 – Pre-Quarters
12:50-13:30 – Quarterfinals
18:15-19:15 – Semifinals
Day 5 (Thursday, August 6):
11:00-11:30 – Repechage
19:30-22:00 – Gold and Bronze Medal Finals
Men Wrestling, 65kg: Bajrang Punia will take the mat starting from:
Day 6 (Friday, August 07):
11:30-12:50 –Pre-Quarters
12:50-13:30 – Quarterfinals
18:15-19:15 – Semifinals
Day 7 (Saturday, August 08):
18:45-19:05 – Repechage
19:30-22:00 – Gold and Bronze Medal Finals
Men Wrestling, 86kg: For Deepak Punia the schedule for the road to the medals podium would be:
Day 4 (Wednesday, August 5):
11:30-12:50 – Pre-Quarters
12:50-13:30 – Quarterfinals
18:15-19:15 – Semifinals
Day 5 (Thursday, August 6):
11:00-11:30 – Repechage
19:30-22:00 – Gold and Bronze Medal Finals
The favourite country to win most medals in wrestling is Japan. It is the most dominant women’s wrestling nation in the world having won 11 of 18 Olympic gold medals since 2004, the first year the sport was included on the Olympic programme. The island nation has also won 22 world team titles since the first women’s wrestling world championships in 1987, including 11 of the last 13.
