World Wrestling Olympic Qualifiers: Seema Bisla entered the semifinal and is just a win away to bag India its eighth Tokyo Olympic quota. She defeated 2019 Junior European Championship bronze medallist Anna Lukasiak (POL) in a dominant fashion to enter the last four. Meanwhile, Nisha and Pooja were ousted in 68kg and 76kg respectively.
Seema started her campaign with a bang, winning against Anastasiya Yanotava (BLR) 8-0 in the qualification round. The 2021 Asian Championship bronze medallist then defeated Youth Olympic Games gold medallist and 2019 Junior European Championship bronze medallist Emma Jonna Denise Malmgren (SWE) 10-2.
World Wrestling Olympic Qualifiers: Nisha Knocked out
Nisha, meanwhile, had was seeded into the pre-quarterfinals where she faced Natalia Iwonz Strzalka (POL). The youngster kicked off her campaign with an emphatic 12-1 win over her Polish counterpart.
But she could not carry her good form into the quarterfinal where she lost to2020 European Champion and 2021 Rome Rankings silver medallist Mimi Hristova (BUL) 12-2.
In 76kg, however, India will have no representation after Pooja was thumped Kamile Gaucaite (LTU) in a thriller.
World Wrestling Olympic Qualifiers, Men’s Freestyle Finals: Sumit Mailk confirms quota in 125kg, likely to miss final
Sumit Malik confirmed India’s 125kg Olympic berth after a dominant 5-0 win over Jose Daniel Diaz Robertti (VEN). However, he is likely to miss the final against Sergei Kozyerv (RUS) due to a knee injury.
In the Qualification bout against Kyrgyzstan’s Aiaal Lazarev, Malik was trailing 1-2 till the last 25 seconds but got a push-out point towards the end and won on criteria, when the scores were tied at 2-2.
His next bout was against Moldova’s Alexandr Romanov. He trailed 0-1 after losing a point on passivity.
In the second period, he lost another point when he was pushed out by his opponent but as has been his strategy — Malik attacks in the closing stage of the bout — he pulled off a two-point throw to make it even and finally won 3-2.
In the quarterfinal against Tajikistan’s Rustam Iskandari, Malik was in trouble at one stage as he trailed 2-4 after leading 2-0 but logged four two-pointers to win easily.
