Wrestler Seema Bisla on track for Tokyo berth after reaching semi-finals of World Olympic Qualifiers; Nisha, Pooja ousted

Sofia: Indian wrestler Seema Bisla kept herself in line for Tokyo Games qualification by reaching the semi-finals of the World Olympic Qualifiers but Nisha and Pooja were ousted from the competition in Sofia on Friday. Competing in the 50kg category, Seema lost only two points en route the semi-finals, where she will clash with Poland’s Anna Lukasiak for a place in the Tokyo Games. Seema, who won a bronze at the recent Asian Championship in Almaty, was solid in her defence against Belarus’ Anastasiya Yanotava and logged four points in each of the periods to win 8-0. The Indian was more dominant against Sweden’s Emma Jonna Denise Malmgren, whom she pinned with 43 seconds to spare to win the bout. Seema used her power better and stayed aggressive. She was leading 10-2 when she found a way to pin her rival. Nisha (68kg) though found the immensely powerful Bulgarian Mimi Hristova in her quarter-final, which she lost by technical superiority. The Bulgarian pulled off a breathtaking four-point throw after which Nisha could not find a way to break her rival’s defence. Nisha had won her opening bout by fall against Poland’s Natalia Iwona Strzalka. Meanwhile, Pooja, the third Indian in the competition, fizzled out in the 76kg opening bout, losing 3-4 to Lithuania’s Kamile Gaucaite. Three Indian women wrestlers have so far qualified for the Tokyo Olympics — Vinesh Phogat (53kg), Anshu Malik (57kg) and Sonam Malik (62kg). Men’s free style wrestler Sumit Malik had qualified in the 125kg on Thursday and will fight for gold later in the day against Russia’s Sergei Kozyrev, the 2018 Youth Olympic champion.