TOKYO: India grappler Ravi Kumar Dahiya stormed into the finals of the men’s freestyle 57kg category at the Tokyo Olympics after defeating Kazakhstan’s Nurislam Sanayev in the semi-finals here at Makuhari Messe Hall A, Mat B on Wednesday.
The Indian wrestler won by fall. Dahiya will now contest the finals on Thursday and he is the first to enter the final since Sushil in 2012. In the first period, Ravi Dahiya managed to take a 2-1 lead and in the second period, the pressure was entirely on Sanayev. Sanayev bounced back strongly in the second period and he quickly eradicated the lead of Dahiya.
Early on, in the second period, the entire pressure was put on the Indian grappler. In the end, Dahiya staged a comeback and as a result, India has been assured of a silver medal. Earlier on Wednesday, Ravi Kumar Dahiya had stormed into the semi-finals of the men’s freestyle 57kg category.
Fourth-seeded Ravi defeated Bulgaria’s Georgi Valentinov Vangelov by pure brute strength and agility at Mat A by 14-4.
