Wrestling hopes lie in Dahiya, Malik

Tokyo, Aug 3: Indian wrestler Ravi Dahiya on Tuesday got a good draw as he will open his 57kg campaign in the Tokyo Olympics against Colombia’s Tigreros Urbano and going by form, he should not face much difficulty in reaching at least the semifinals.
If Ravi, the 2019 World Championship bronze medallist and reigning Asian champion, wins his opener against the Colombian then he will take on either Algeria’s Abdelhak Kherabache or Georgi Valentinov Vangelov from Bulgaria.
In the semifinals, he is likely to face either Serbian top seed Stevan Andria Micic or Japan’s Yuki Takahashi, after they were drawn to meet in the opening round.
In the men’s freestyle 86kg, Deepak Punia is pitted against Nigeria’s Ekerekeme Agiomor, the African championship bronze medallist.
If the 2019 worlds silver medallist wins, he will be up against either China’s Zushen Lin or Peru’s Edinson Ambrocio Greifo, the 2020 Pan American silver winner.
Meanwhile, the 19-year-old Anshu Malik has got a difficult opener as she has drawn European champion Irina Kurachikina.
Provided she wins, next up for her would be either Rio Olympics silver medallist from Russia, Valeria Koblova, or Mexico’s Alma Jane. (PTI)