2019 World Wrestling Championship: Bajrang Punia, Ravi Kumar one win away from Olympic quota

India's Bajrang Punia got off to a winning start in the round of 32 and then followed it up another win in the pre-quarters at the ongoing World Wrestling Championship being held in Nur Sultan, Kazakhstan

In men's 65kg freestyle round of 16 bout, Bajrang took on David Habat of Slovenia. The Indian took a 2-0 lead within the first minute of this 6-minute fight and then added one more point to seal the bout. With this win, the World No. 1 grappler moved into the quarters, which means he is just one win away from qualifying for the Tokyo Olympics.

Earlier in the first round, Bajrang had faced the 5th seeded Krzysztof Bienkowski of Poland. He got an early lead due to passivity by the Polish wrestler and followed it up with a takedown which took him 4-0. A poor challenge call on a caution by Bienkowski saw the Indian going 5-0 up.

However, Bienkowski managed to reduce the deficit with a takedown and made it 5-2. Bajrang, who has been in top form over the last year or so and is the reigning Asian champion, then prevailed and went to win the bout 9-2.

Ravi Kumar moves into last 8

Men's 57kg, Round of 16: Ravi Kumar enjoyed a spectacular start to his campaign at the World Champions as he made his way into the quarter finals. The young grappler completed a technical superiority win over Sunggwon Kim of Korea in just one round, making the most of his reach. He soared to a 5-0 lead inside two minutes and soon he made it 11-0 to qualify for the pre-quarters.

In the second round, Ravi fought back to beat Arsen Harutyunyan of Armenia 17-6. When the bout started, he was in all sorts of trouble and trailed 0-4 in the first period. Soon, the score read 0-6 as the Armenian got a challenge right and moved further ahead.

However, after that, the Indian swinged the momentum into his favour and went on snatch 17 points with a couple of impressive ankle locks and takedowns.

Divya Kakran loses to Olympic champion

Meanwhile, in Women's 68kg, Divya Kakran lost 0-2 to Olympic champion Sara Dosho of Japan. Last time the two wrestlers had met, the Indian was completely outwrestled.

On Thursday, though, her defence stood strong. However, she faced the shot clock twice due to passivity and lost the bout 2-0. Divya will now hope that Dosho reaches the final and she can make it to the repechage round.

More updates to follow...