Tokyo Olympic Games medalists Bajrang Punia and Ravi Dahiya have suffered a major setback. Both the wrestlers are out of the Paris Olympic qualification race after losing their matches in the selection trials for the upcoming international tournament on Sunday. Due to which the dream of both the players of participating in Paris Olympics has been shattered. Former world silver medalist Deepak Punia (86 kg) has confirmed his place in the Olympic qualifiers. As per the guidelines of the ad-hoc committee, the winner of the trials in the Olympic weight category will represent India in the upcoming Olympic qualifiers, including the Asian Olympic Qualifiers (April 19-21) and the World Olympic Qualifiers (May 9-12). ,
Bajrang Punia had to face a crushing defeat
Punia, who led the protests against former Wrestling Federation of India president Brijbhushan Sharan Singh, lost 1-9 to Rohit Kumar in the men's freestyle 65kg semi-final. Earlier he had barely been able to register a win against Ravinder. If Ravinder had not lost the match point due to warning, Punia would have been out in the very first match. After losing in the semi-finals, Punia immediately left the Sports Authority of India (SAI) Center in anger. National Anti-Doping Agency (NADA) officials tried to collect dope sample from Punia but he could not even survive the third-fourth place competition.
Aman Sehrawat defeated Ravi Dahiya
The men's 57kg (in Nordic format) has always been a tough category with Tokyo Olympics silver medalists Ravi Dahiya and Aman Sehrawat in the mix. Dahiya, who was returning from injury, lost to Aman 13-14 in the first high-scoring match. Both train at Chhatrasal Stadium. While Dahiya was not competing, Aman was in the news in 2023 by winning medals in almost all the tournaments. Asian Games bronze medalist Aman ended Dahiya's dominance in the final minutes to win the match. Dahiya lost the next match to U-20 Asian champion Udit. The winners of the trials will get a chance to participate in the Asian and World Olympic Qualifiers. India has so far secured the quota for the Paris Olympics only through the final Panchal (Women's 53 kg).