Tokyo Olympics 2020: Wrestler Ravi Dahiya pins Kazakhstan's Nurislam Sanayev to enter final, ensure another medal for India

Chiba: Ravi Dahiya on Wednesday became only the second Indian wrestler to qualify for the gold medal clash at the Olympic Games when he sensationally turned around the 57kg semi-final by pinning Kazakhstan’s Nurislam Sanayev. The fourth seeded Indian was trailing 2-9 when Sanayev effected a few ‘fitley’ (leg lace) moves to pull ahead but as the clock ticked away, Dahiya regrouped and got hold of his rival with a double leg attack that resulted in a victory by fall. Before this, Sushil Kumar was the only Indian to make the gold medal bout in 2012 London Games and eventually clinched silver. The 23-year Dahiya had won both his previous bouts on technical superiority en route the final. Dahiya outclassed Colombia’s Tigreros Urbano (13-2) in his opener and then outwitted Bulgaria’s Georgi Valentinov Vangelov (14-4). KD Jadhav had become India’s first wrestler— and the first individual Olympic medallist to win a bronze at the 1952 Helsinki Games. After that, Sushil enhanced wrestling’s profile by winning a bronze at the 2008 Beijing Games and bettered the colour of the medal by claiming a historic silver in 2012 London Olympics. That made Sushil India’s only athlete with two individual Olympic medals for nine years, a feat that has now been matched by shuttler PV Sindhu. In the same 2012 London Games, Yohesgwar Dutt won a bronze. Sakshi Malik became the first Indian woman wrestler to win an Olympic medal when she took a bronze in the 2016 Rio Games.