Wrestling Junior World Championships: Ravinder reaches 61kg final, Gourav Baliyan, Deepak win bronze

Ufa: Upcoming Indian wrestler Ravinder lined himself up for his second international title by reaching the 61kg final of the junior world championship while Gourav Baliyan (79kg) and Deepak (97kg) won bronze medals on Tuesday. Ravinder had won the Asian Cadet title in 2018 and also won a silver at the 2019 Under-23 World championship. The 20-year-old Baliyan won the bronze play-off in just 65 seconds, winning his bout against Germany’s Richard Shroeder by technical superiority. He began with a four-point throw and before the German could gather himself, Baliyan came up with consecutive take-down moves to end the bout in a jiffy. Deepak took the 97kg bronze with a 3-2 win over Milan Andras Korcsog from Hungary. Ravinder controlled the semi-final against Armenia’s Levik Mikayelyan after trailing 0-2, losing both points on push out. His tactical acumen was on display as he kept effecting point-scoring moves one after another, specially with the double leg attacks. Three consecutive take-down pushed him into lead and he consolidated that with one more. He finished the bout on technical superiority with a four-pointer, with which he threw the Armenian out of the mat after getting hold of the right leg of his rival. Earlier, in the action-packed pre-quarter-final against Ivan Hramyka from Belarus, Ravinder’s agility stood out as he won 5-2. Ivan had good attacking style but the Indian’s better stamina helped him immensely. In the quarter-final against Brunei’s Alibeg Alibegov, Ravinder’s superior defense was on display. Alibeg got hold of Ravinder’s right leg and then also initiated a dangerous-looking double-leg attack but, on both occasions, the Indian used his power and brain to wriggle out. Among other Indians in action, Yash (74kg) lost in pre-quarter-finals while Vetal Shelkle (86kg), Pruthviraj Patil (92kg) and Aniruddh (125kg) lost their respective quarter-finals. Going out of medal contention were Shubham (57kg) and Rohit (65kg), who lost their respective repechage rounds.