New Delhi, April 19
The Indian freestyle wrestling team had a disastrous outing at the Asian Olympic Qualifiers where they failed to win any
quota places.
The tournament started on a dour note as both Deepak Punia (86kg) and Sujeet Kalkal (65 kg) were barred from competing after they came late for the mandatory weigh-ins in the morning. As reported by The Tribune, the duo, along with coach Kamal Malikov, was stuck at the Dubai International Airport since April 16 amidst the storm that caused floods and destruction in the UAE.
They managed to catch a late-night flight but could not reach in time for the weigh-ins and were marked as forfeited in the results column. “They reached 10-15 minutes before the start of the bouts. WFI president Sanjay Singh requested the organisers to accommodate the wrestlers but was told nothing can be done,” a WFI official said.
In the other weight categories, none of the Indians except Asian champion Aman Sehrawat (57kg) came anywhere close to winning a quota in Bishkek today.
Aman lost by fall against Uzbekistan’s Gulomjon Abdullaev in the semifinals. Only the finalists secured quota places.
Earlier, Aman tamed Kazakhstan’s Yerassyl Mukhtaruly 10-0 and then beat South Korea’s Sunggwon Kim 11-1 to enter the semis.
The Uzbek employed quick takedowns and a four-point throw to race to 10-0 before pinning the Indian.
In the 74kg category, Jaideep lost to Kyrgyzstan’s Orozobek Toktomambetov 2-2 on criteria points, while Deepak Nehra (97kg) and Sumit (125kg) lost 0-10 against Japan’s Arash Yoshida and Mongolia’s Lkhagvagerel Munkhtur, respectively.
The Indians will get another chance to punch their tickets for the Paris Olympics at the World Olympic Qualifiers, which will be held next month.