Tokyo Olympics wrestling: Double delight as Ravi Dahiya and Deepak Punia enter quarters

Ravi Dahiya, the reigning Asian champion, nailed the win with one minute and 10 seconds still remaining in the bout, which was stopped after he raced to a winning 13-2 lead.

Indian wrestler Ravi Dahiya made a confident start to his Olympics campaign, winning by technical superiority against Colombia’s Tigreros Urbano to reach the men's freestyle 57kg quarterfinals, in Chiba (Japan) on Wednesday (August 4). The fourth-seeded Indian consistently attacked the right leg of his opponent and apart from conceding a take-down in the first period, he remained dominant. India's Deepak Punia joined Ravi Dahiya in the quarterfinals stage in the 86kg category with a 12-1 win over Nigeria's Ekerekeme Agiomor in a pre-quarters fight.

Dahiya, the reigning Asian champion, nailed the win with one minute and 10 seconds still remaining in the bout, which was stopped after he raced to a winning 13-2 lead. The Indian effected five take-down moves in the second period, showing his technical prowess.

Dahiya will next face Bulgaria’s Georgi Valentinov Vangelov, who also beat his first round opponent, Abdelhak Kherbache of Algeria, by technical superiority. Anshu Malik (WW 57kg) and Deepak Punia (FS 86kg) will also be in action later in the day.

(More to come)