Malik a win away from Oly qualification

Sofia (Bulgaria), May 6: Sumit Malik was still in contention to qualify for the Tokyo Games but it was all over for Amit Dhankar and Satywart Kadiyan, who were ousted from the World Wrestling Olympic Qualifiers after losing at different stages of the competition, here on Thursday. In his 125kg Qualification bout against Kyrgyzstan’s Aiaal Lazarev, Malik was trailing 1-2 till the last 25 seconds but won on criteria, when the scores were tied at 2-2. His next bout was against Moldova’s Alexandr Romanov. He pulled off a two-point throw to win 3-2. In the quarterfinal against Tajikistan’s Rustam Iskandari, Malik logged four two-pointers to win easily. Venezuela’s Jose Daniel Diaz Robertti now stands between Malik and his Olympic qualification. The finalists at this competition will qualify for the Tokyo Games. Dhankar lost his 74kg Qualification bout 6-9 to Moldova’s Mihail Sava. In the quarterfinal against Bulgaria’s Ahmed Sultanovich Bataev, Kadian blew away a 5-1 lead to exit the competition as he lost the bout on criteria. (PTI)