Bajrang Punia seals Olympic quota spot alongside Ravi Dahiya at World Wrestling

Nur-Sultan (Kazakh-stan): Bajrang Punia lost his semifinal bout against home wrestler Daulet Niyazbekov under controversial circumstances after sealing his Tokyo Olympics quota along with Ravi Dahiya, who made his presence felt in a star-studded field at the World Wrestling Championships, here on Thursday.

Bajrang’s frustrated coach Shako Benitidis kicked the coach’s block in anger after the 65kg bout ended 9-9 following a nerve-wracking six minutes.

Since Niyazbekov was given a bigger throw of four points in the bout, he was declared the winner.

In the fiercely-fought bout, the referee gave ample time to tiring Niyazbekov to catch his breath and he was not given caution at least thrice.

Instead Niyazbekov was awarded four points when it was Bajrang who effected a throw at the edge of the circle. “I challenged it and they should have given at least two points to Bajrang for that hold,” said coach Benitidis.

Several times, Bajrang raised his hands in frustration but to no avail.

The last edition silver medallist Indian will now fight for the bronze on Friday.

“It was clear that the mat chairman favoured the home wrestler,” said a coach who did not wish to be named.

Ravi, who felled a few stars on his way to the 57kg semifinals, lost 4-6 to reigning world champion Zaur Uguev of Russia and will also fight for the bronze.

Ravi also made it to the Tokyo Olympics in the 57kg after stunning Arsen Harutunyan, the 61kg European champion from Armenia and 2017 world champion and world number three Yuki Takahashi of Japan.

Meanwhile, India’s campaign in the women’s competition folded following Pooja Dhanda’s defeat in the bronze medal bout and first round exits of Sakshi Malik and Divya Kakran.

Making good use of an easy 65kg draw, Bajrang steam-rolled one opponent after another earlier in the day to reach the semifinals.

Bajrang did not have to work much in going past Poland’s Krzysztof Bienkowski in the opening round. He easily beat his opponent 9-2.

Bajrang’s next opponent was David Habat who did not bother the Indian much though the Slovenian twice had his right leg in his clutches.

The first chance was in first period from ground position and then in the standing position after the break. The Slovenian, surprisingly, could not exploit the advantageous position.

In the quarterfinals against Korea’s Jong Choi Son, Bajrang lost a point for stepping out but won the bout comfortably 8-1 after that.