Olympic qualification trials: Jitendar seals spot in absence of Sushil Kumar

Sans two-time Olympic medallist Sushil Kumar, the wrestling trials had lost a little bit of its sheen even before it kicked off on Friday in New Delhi. However, with a shot at the Olympic trials in sight in the 74kg, 97kg and 125kg categories, the competition was intense and the action on the mat was just a testament to that.

While the 74kg category saw a record number of entries, a total of eleven wrestlers, including three national champions (70kg, 74kg and 79kg), competed in the event held to select Indian freestyle and greco-roman teams for three tournaments — 2020 season’s first Ranking Series tournament in Rome (January 15-18), Asian Championship in New Delhi (February 18-23) and Asian Olympic Qualifier in Xian, China from March 27 to 29.

In 74kg freestyle final, Jitendar prevailed to see off stiff challenge from Amit Dhankar as he won 5-2 and sealed a spot in the Indian squad. In 96 kg freestyle final, Satyawart Kadian pulled off a huge upset as he beat Mausam Khatri 12-2 by technical superiority. Elsewhere, in 125 kg freestyle, Sumit Malik beat Satendar comfortably in the final.

Bajrang Punia, had been exempted by the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) from the trials while Ravi Dahiya, and World No. 1 Deepak Punia were expected to win in their respective categories

Here are all the results:

Freestyle Category
57kg
Quarterfinals
Rahul (JHA) beat Sumit (Delhi) 6-1
Pankaj (Services) beat Arun (Del) 6-1
Semi-Finals
Pankaj (Services) beat Rahul (JHA) 3-2
Finals
Ravi Dhaiya (Railways) beat Pankaj (Services) 10-0

65kg – Bajrang Punia qualified directly

74kg
Last 16
Sandeep Maan (Pun) beat Karan (Services) 2-1
Vinod Kumar (Services) beat Vishal (Haryana) 3-2
Praveen Rana (Railways) beat Naveen (JHA) 2-1
Quarterfinals
Gaurav Baliyan (U.P) beat Arjun Yadav (Railways) 10-2
Amit Dhankar (Har) beat Praveen Malik (Har) 13-2
Jitendar (Railways) beat Sandeep Maan (Pun) 3-2
Vinod Kumar (Services) beat Praveen Rana (Railways) 4-2
Semi-Finals
Amit Dhankar (Haryana) beat Gaurav Baliyan (U.P) 7-6
Jitendar (Services) beat Vinod Kumar (Services) 6-1
Finals
Jitendar (Services) beat Amit Dhankar (Haryana) 5-2

86kg –
Last 16
Sanjeet (Services) beat Praveen Chahar (Del) 5-5
Quarter-finals
Pawan (Railways) beat Rahul Rathi (Haryana) 6-0
Sanjeet (Services) beat Deepak (Railways) 5-2
Semi-Finals
Pawan Kumar (Railways) beat Sanjeet (Services) 1-1
Finals
Deepak Punia (Services) beat Pawan Saroha (Railways) 6-2

97kg
Mausam Khatri (Har) beat Rajbir (Railways) 5-0
Quarterfinals
Karandeep (Pun) beat Vicky (Services) 2-2
Mausam Khatri (Har) beat Somber (Services) 8-5
Semi-Finals
Mausam Khatri (Har) beat Karandeep (Pun) 12-2
Satyawart Kadian (Railways) beat Kapil Dhama (U.P) 8-0
Finals
Satyawart Kadian (Railways) beat Mausam Khatri (Har) 12-2

125kg –
Semi-Finals
Sumit Malik (Railways) beat Pushpender (Services) 6-0
Satender (Services) beat Dharmendar (Punjab) 5-2
Finals
Sumit Malik (Railways) beat Satendar (Services) 9-0

Greco-Roman Category
60kg –
Last 16
Hardeep (Haryana) beat Sachin Sharma (Railways) 10-9
Quarterfinals
Gyanendra (Services) beat Hardeep (Haryana) 8-0
Vijay (JHA) beat Vikram Kurade (Railways) 11-4
Manish (Railways) beat Manjeet (JHA) 4-3
Sachin Rana (Del) beat Taibarga (Services) 8-0
Semi-Finals
Sachin Rana (Del) beat Manish (Railways) 7-0
Gyanendra (Services) beat Vijay (JHA) 9-0
Finals
Gyanendra (Services) beat Sachin Rana (Delhi) 2-0

67kg –
Quarterfinals
Ashu (Haryana) beat Surajmal (Services) 10-7
Sachin (Services) beat Sagar (Delhi) 7-0
Deepak (Railways) beat Saurabh (JHA) 6-5
Semi-FInals
Ashu (Haryana) beat Ravinder (Railways) 6-3
Saurabh (JHA) beat Sachin (SSCB) 8-0
Finals
Ashu (Haryana) beat Saurabh (JHA) 7-2

77kg –
Semi-FInals
Sajan (Railways) beat Kuldeep Malik (Railways) 4-3
Gurpreet Singh(Pun) beat Manjeet (JHA) 8-0
Finals
Gurpreet Singh(Pun) beat Sajan (Railways) 10-3

87kg –
Semi-finals
Ravinder Khatri (Services) beat Prabhpal Singh (Pun) 9-0
Sunil Kumar (Railways) beat Harpreet Singh (Pun) 4-0
Finals
Sunil Kumar (Railways) beat Ravinder Khatri (Services) 4-1

97kg –
Semi-finals
Hardeep (Railways) beat Deepanshu (Services) 2-1
Ravi (Railways) beat Sonu (Services) 6-0
Finals
Hardeep (Railways) beat Ravi (Railways) 3-2

130kg –
Semi-Finals
Naveen (Services) beat Anil Kumar (Services)
Prem (Services) beat Manveer Singh (Pun) 5-1
Finals
Naveen (Services) beat Prem (SSCB) 2-0