Amid controversy, Sushil Kumar seal wrestling World Championship berth

India's ace grappler Sushil Kumar lived up to his lofty reputation with some exemplary display to assure his berth in the Indian contingent that will travel to Kazakhstan for the wrestling World Championship, starting September 14.

Sushil's bout was, however, marred with controversies. The two-time Olympic medalist eked out a spirited Jitender Kumar 4-2 in a thrilling 74 kg final at Delhi's IGI stadium. Sushil proved too much for his opponent, leaving him befuddled with his flurry of lethal attacks. The bout soon took an unpleasant turn, when Jitender incurred an eye injury after Sushil Kumar had raced to a 4-0 lead in the first period. Another attacking move later, Sushil had Jitender wincing in pain as he injured his elbow.

In the aftermath of the match, Jitender's coach Javieer accused Sushil of indulging in unfair practices.

"He did it on purpose. He has been doing it for years. He employed the same tactics in the 2012 Olympics. It was definitely deliberate. They don't want any other win against Sushil."

Jitender, however still has an outside chance to make it to the Worlds in the 79kg category if he succeeds to defeat today's winner Virdev Gulia.

Clearing any air of ambiguity, Sushil said, "My style is not rough. My style is to win by technical superiority or pin the opponent. Today the instruction from the coaches was to just win the bout. It was not done deliberately. He is like my younger brother. It was a good fight and if such bouts are fought consistently, the country will see good results."

Men's team: Ravi Dahiya (57kg), Bajrang Punia (65kg), Sushil Kumar (74kg) Deepak Punia (86kg), Mausam Khatri (97kg) and Sumit Malik (125kg), Rahul Aware (61kg), Karan Mor (70kg) and Praveen (92kg).

Women's team: Seema Bisla (50kg), Vinesh Phogat (53kg), Lalita (55kg), Sarita Mor (57kg), Pooja Dhanda (59kg), Sakshi Malik (62kg), Navjot Kaur (65kg), Divya Kakran (68kg), Komal (72kg), Kiran (76kg).