Wrestlers Sandeep Singh Mann, Satywart Kadian and Sumit Malik fail to seal Tokyo berths at Asian Olympic Qualifiers

Almaty, Kazakhstan: National champion Sandeep Singh Mann (74kg) failed to qualify for the Olympic Games at the Asian Qualifiers in Almaty on Sunday, keeping veteran Sushil Kumar’s Tokyo hopes alive in the weight category. Also missing out on qualification was Satywart Kadiyan (97kg) and Sumit Malik (125kg) in the three-day competition that concluded on Sunday. All those who missed out have one last chance to make the cut for the Tokyo Games at the World Olympic Qualifiers, scheduled to be held in Sofia, Bulgaria from 6-9 May. Young guns Sonam Malik and Anshu Malik were the only ones to qualify for the Games in Almaty, taking the country’s quota in women’s wrestling to three. Sandeep began by beating Qatar’s Abdullrahman Ibrahim A Ibrahim in the qualification match and followed that up by defeating Tajikistan’s Gulomdzhon Sharipov 6-2.

MOHAMMADIAN (IRI) Destroys the competition with 3 technical superiority wins and qualifies Iran for the Tokyo Olympics at 97KG #wrestlealmaty pic.twitter.com/T8dnxqVloe

— United World Wrestling (@wrestling) April 11, 2021

However, in the all-important semi-final, Sandeep lost to Iran’s Yones Aliakbar Emamichoghaaei by technical superiority. He will now fight for bronze with China’s Menghejigan Menghejigan. Sushil, a two-time Olympic-medallist who did not compete in the event after missing the trials, can get one last chance book a ticket for the Tokyo Games, starting 23 July, should he be picked for the world qualifiers. In 97kg, Kadiyan defeated Korea’s Minwon Seo 6-2 and then lost his semi-final by technical superiority to Iran’s Mohammadhossein Askari Mohammadian. Sumit, on the other hand, defeated Makhsud Veysalov 7-0 but lost the semi-final 0-2 to local wrestler Yusup Batirmurzaev. In men’s free style, Bajrang Punia (65kg), Ravi Dahiya (57kg) and Deepak Punia (86kg) had qualified for the Tokyo Games through the 2019 World Championship in Nur Sultan.