Ravi wins 3rd title in a row, Bajrang loses in final

NEW DELHI: Tokyo Olympics silver medallist Ravi Kumar Dahiya and bronze winner Bajrang Punia were a study in contrast on Saturday as they won gold and silver at the Asian wrestling championships in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. India won three more medals on the first day of men’s freestyle competition. Gourav Baliyan (79kg) produced gritty fightbacks to win silver. Naveen (70kg) and Satyawart Kadian (97kg) took bronze.

Dahiya produced a dominating display to become the first Indian wrestler to win three consecutive Asian championships titles, having also won in 2020 and 2021. His supremacy in 57kg has only grown since the Olympics. In the final, Dahiya beat Rakhat Kalzhan of Kazakhstan on technical superiority (12-2). Kalzhan opened the scoring with two points before Dahiya got down to scoring through swift takedowns, swooping to attack his opponent’s legs using his reach. Dahiya led 8-2 after the first period. The Kazakh pounced on Dahiya’s leg on restart, but he held firm and countered for four quick points to end the contest.

Dahiya overcame initial hiccups to sail through his first two bouts. Young Japanese Rikuto Arai was fast and got hold of his legs to score two points. Dahiya was unperturbed and stepped up attacks. Even when the Japanese went for his legs, Dahiya wriggled out of difficult situations. In the end, it was 15-4 (technical fall) with 1:35 secs left on the clock. In the semi-final, Dahiya was down 0-4 against Mongolia’s Zanabar Zandanbud, who was on an attacking spree.*