Jitender clinches silver: Deepak, Rahul get bronze

Two-time Olympic medallist Sushil had skipped the continental event citing an injury. A gold eluded India on the second day of the men’s freestyle competition with Deepak Punia (86kg) and Rahul Aware (61kg) finishing with bronze medals. Up against Kazakhstan’s Daniyar Kaisanov in the final, Jitender showed tremendous defensive skill but was lacking in attack.

The Indian lost 1-3 to the defending champion. However, his performance was enough to convince the national federation that he should travel to Bishkek (Kyrgyzstan) for the Olympic Qualifiers, without a re-trial. It means that Sushil, who also competes in 74kg, will have to wait and see how Jitender fares in Bishkek, where the finalists will directly qualify for the Tokyo Games.

If Jitender reaches the gold medal bout there, it will affect the prospect of Sushil, who has been struggling since the 2018 Asian Games. If Jitender fails to seal an Olympic quota in Bishkek, the last chance would be through a World qualifying event in April. Jitender’s attacking moves were not good enough to get a good grip on his rivals. Largely, he was defending from the standing position.

In fact, in the semi-final against his Mongolian opponent, all three points were scored on passivity and the bouts lacked flare.

Before that, Jitender had won his qualification bout rather easily but just about managed to win his following matches against Iran’s Mostafa Mohabbali Hosseinkhani (3-2) and Mongolia’s Sumiyabazar Zandanbud (2-1).

World championship silver medallist Deepak lost his 86kg semi-final duel to Japan’s Shutaro Yamada. His style was identical to Jitender’s and his moves from distance did not yield the desired result. Against Yamada, the only points he scored from a takedown were removed after a successful challenge from his opponent’s camp.

In the fight for bronze against Issa Abdulsalam Abdulwahhab Al Obaidi, the Indian looked a different man, winning it easily. He defeated his Iraqi rival by technical superiority.

In the non-Olympic 61kg category, Rahul defeated Uzbekistan’s Jahongirmirza Turobov 11-9 in a fast-paced quarter-final but lost his last four stage contest 3-5 to Kyrgyzstan’s Ulukbek Zholdoshbekov. However, he won bronze after downing Iran’s Majid Almas Dastan 4-2.