Bishkek [Kyrgyzstan], April 19 : Indian wrestler Aman Sehrawat fell just one victory short of an Olympics 2024 quota as he lost the men's 57 kg semifinals on Friday during the Asian Wrestling Olympic Qualifiers.
In the event, three Indian wrestlers made an early exit and India failed to bag a men's freestyle wrestling quota. Two semifinalists from each weight division secure quotas for their country. There are no gold medal or repechage bouts, as per Olympics.com.
Sehrawat, a former Asian and U23 world champion, kicked off his campaign with a 10-0 (technical superiority) win over Kazakhstan's Yerassyl Mukhtaruly, an U-23 Asian Championships silver medal winner in the qualifying round.
He then beat South Korea's Kim Sunggwon 11-1 by technical superiority during the quarterfinals to set up a quota match against the Tokyo 2020 Olympic and former junior Asian Champion Gulomjon Abdullaev of Uzbekistan, which he lost by 10-0.
Tokyo Olympian Deepak Punia (86 kg) and Sujeet (65 kg) could not compete as they were struck in a flight in Dubai since Tuesday due to heavy rains, which caused them to arrive late at the event for their weigh-ins.
Only four of six Indian men's freestyle wrestlers could play on Friday. Jaideep, the men's 74 kg division quota aspirant, faced quarterfinal elimination. After he defeated Turkmenistan's Alp A. Begenjov 10-0 via technical superiority in the qualifier, the Indian lost to Kyrgyz grappler Orozobek Toktomambetov in the QFs.
Sumit also faced an exit in quarterfinals. In his weight category of 125 kg, he faced a 10-0 loss to Mongolia's Lkhagvagerel Munkhtur.
Deepak, the men's 97 kg competitor, was knocked out of the competition in the first round itself by Japan's Arash Yoshida.
The women's freestyle contingent, which also includes Vinesh Phogat and Anshu Malik, will be playing on Saturday. Greco-Roman events will start from Sunday onwards. The ongoing meet is the second-last opportunity for Indian wrestlers, besides another World Qualification event scheduled in Turkiye during May, to secure Paris Olympic quotas.
India has so far seen only one grappler get an Olympic quota. Antim Panghal secured a bronze medal and Olympic quota in women's 53 kg during the 2023 World Wrestling Championships in Belgrade last year.
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