Jitender’s silver seals Olympic qualifier berth over Sushil
Indian had to perform to be assured of a ticket for qualifiers in Kyrgyzstan
NEWDELHI:IT was one final chance for Jitender to prove himself in 74kg—the category of double Olympic medallist Sushil Kumar. A medal in the Asian Wrestling Championships and Jitender would be assured of an India berth for next month’s Asian Olympic qualifiers, and he grabbed the opportunity by ensuring silver here on Sunday.
Jitender demolished Parinya Chamnanjan of Thailand 10-0 in the qualification bout. The next two rounds though were close affairs. He beat Iran’s M Hosseinkhani on technical ground after the scores were tied 2-2. In the semi-final against Mongolia’s Sumiyabazar Zandanbud, Jitender got through 2-1. However, he lost the final to defending champion Daniyar Kaisanov of Kazakhstan 1-3.
“This medal is special for me because I was competing at home. I was not thinking about the trials but wanted to give my best. I will be looking to go out there and win an Olympic berth for the country,” said Jitender.
Sushil Kumar, medallist at the 2008 and 2012 Olympics, withdrew from the national selection trials in 74kg in January due to hand fracture. He requested the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) to postpone the trials, but it went ahead and Jitender came on top in a field of 11 contenders. The federation had however said another round of trials will be held in categories where performances were not satisfactory.
Jitender returned without a medal in the world ranking series in Rome last month and hence had to bag a medal at the Asian championships here for a safe passage to the Asian Olympic qualifiers to be held in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan from March 27-29. The trials Jitender mentioned will not happen now.
“There will be no trials in 74kg now as Jitender has ensured a medal for the country. It will be unfair to him if we hold the trials. He has performed and has the right to compete in the Olympic qualifier,” WFI president Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh said on Sunday.
If Jitender qualifies for the Tokyo Olympics through the Asian qualifiers, it will be interesting to see what future holds for the Beijing and London Games medallist, who is 36.
Sushil Kumar’s last competition was at the 2019 World Championships in Nur-sultan, which was the first Olympic qualifier. In the build-up, he defeated Jitender in a controversial trial bout in which the latter suffered an eye injury. Sushil Kumar made an early exit at the world championships and then suffered the injury.
Sushil’s mentor Satpal Singh said he has been undergoing intense training for the last 15 days, but has not written to WFI seeking trials. “He has started to train seriously now after recovering from the injury. But he has still not asked for a trial. Sushil has given a lot for the country. We will see how it goes,” Satpal, the wrestling star’s father-inlaw, told Hindustan Times.
PUNIA, AWARE TRIUMPH
India’s biggest hope on the last day of competition, Deepak Punia, lost his 86kg semi-final bout to Japan’s Shutaro Yamada. Punia has already qualified for the Olympics after winning silver at the world championships.
The new sensation of Indian wrestling impressed in his first bout, against Mongolian Ganbaatar Gankhuyag. Punia trailed 1-2 with 30 seconds left when he made the biggest move and turned the tables on Gankhuyag. Till then Punia’s only point had come with the activity clock ticking down on his opponent. With the crowd behind him, Punia swiftly turned around to hold the waist of Gankhuyag, scoring a six-point throw.
Mongolia challenged, but lost the appeal and Punia sealed the contest 8-2. However, Punia was no match for Yamada in the semi-final, losing 1-4.
In the bronze medal match, Punia crushed Iraq’s Issa Abdulsalam 10-0.
AWARE’S BIG SLIP
In the non-olympics 61kg category, Rahul Aware won bronze beating Majid Almas Dastan of Iran 5-2. Aware, who won bronze at the world championships, must be cursing a slip up towards the end that might have cost him a semi-final spot. He was trailing 2-3 against Kyrgyzstan’s Ulukbek Zholdoshbekov when he lost focus and looked up at the stands and then the scoreboard. That momentary lapse was enough for Zholdoshbekov to attack his legs and score two points for victory. “I thought I was leading when I heard a loud shout from the stands and I thought I was losing, so I got confused and looked up and then at the scoreboard. I cannot make such mistakes,” he said.