Jitender ensures place in Indian team for Olympics qualifiers with silver

New Delhi, February 23

Jitender Kumar sealed his place in the Indian team for the Olympics qualifiers with a silver medal at the Asian Championship here today, a result that could shut the Tokyo Games door on veteran Sushil Kumar. Two-time Olympics medallist Sushil had skipped the continental event citing an injury.

A gold eluded India on the second day of the men’s freestyle competition, with Deepak Punia (86kg) and Rahul Aware (61kg) finishing with bronze medals.

Up against Kazakhstan’s Daniyar Kaisanov, Jitender showed tremendous defensive skill, but was lacking in attack. The Indian lost 1-3 to the defending champion. However, his performance was enough to convince the national federation that he should travel to Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, for the Olympics qualifiers without a re-trial.

It means that Sushil, who also competes in the 74kg category, will have to wait and see how Jitender fares in Bishkek, where the finalists will directly qualify for the Tokyo Games.

If Jitender reaches the gold medal bout there, it will affect the prospect of Sushil, who has been struggling since the 2018 Asian Games.

If Jitender fails to seal an Olympics quota in Bishkek, the last chance would be through a world qualifying event in April.

Last-ditch effort

“I tried one move towards the end but could not execute it properly; it could have got me the gold,” said Jitender. “There are improvements in my game and it could be seen. This silver is special. Now I will try harder to get an Olympics quota,” he added.

Jitender was largely defending from standing position. In the semifinal, all three points were scored on passivity. Before that, Jitender had won his qualification bout easily but just about managed to win his following bouts.

“We will not have trials in any category in the men’s freestyle. We will see how our wrestlers perform in Bishkek,” Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) president Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh said.

Bronze for Deepak, Rahul

Much to the disappointment of the home fans, World Championships silver medallist Deepak lost his 86kg semifinal to Japan’s Shutaro Yamada. In the fight for bronze, Deepak beat Iraq’s Issa Abdulsalam Abdulwahhab Al Obaidi by technical superiority.

“I had not trained enough because of an injury I suffered during training after I arrived in India from Russia. I had six stitches just above my right eye,” Deepak, who won a silver at the 2019 Worlds, said.

In the non-Olympics 61kg category, Aware, who won a bronze at the Worlds in Nur Sultan, paid the price for being overconfident as his unnecessary challenges cost him dearly. His movement was terrific and so were his attacks but untimely challenges resulted in him losing points in both his quarterfinal and semifinal.

In a fast-paced quarterfinal bout against Uzbekistan’s Jahongirmirza Turobov, Rahul won 11-9, largely because of his superior defence. The Pune grappler lost his semifinal to Kyrgyzstan’s Ulukbek Zholdoshbekov 3-5.

He won bronze after downing Iran’s Majid Almas Dastan 4-2 in an exciting bout.

In the 125kg, Satender won in qualification but later lost his quarterfinal and repechage bouts. In the 92kg, Somveer’s challenge lasted just 24 seconds against his Uzbek rival Ajiniyaz Saparniyazov.