Wrestling: Ravi Dahiya pulls out of Bishkek Ranking Series due to knee injury

BISHKEK: Tokyo Olympic silver medallist wrestler Ravi Dahiya on Sunday pulled out of the Bishkek Ranking Series event due to a knee injury, which he sustained during warm-up.

Competing in a new weight category 61 kg, Dahiya was scheduled to play against Kyrgyzstan's Taiyrbek Zhumashbek Uulu in the Qualification round.

"According to the Indian coaching staff, the Tokyo Olympic silver medalist injured his knee while warming up and won't compete in Bishkek," United World Wrestling said in a statement.

Dahiya's last appearance in international competition occurred 10 months ago at the Birmingham Commonwealth Games, where he emerged victorious in the men's freestyle 57kg category, clinching the gold medal.

Meanwhile, in the same weight category, Pankaj set up a quarterfinal clash with compatriot Aman Sehrawat after beating Giorgi Goniashvili of Georgia on points 8-2 in the qualification round.

In the 70kg category, Mulayam Singh too reached the quarterfinal with 9-4 win over Doszhan Assetov of Kazakhstan in the qualification.

India has so far won four medals in the tournament. The three medals from Indian women wrestlers on Saturday took India's tally to four after Greco-Roman wrestler Manjeet (55kg) won bronze on Thursday.

In the women's section, Asian championships bronze medallist Manisha, competing in women's 65kg, bagged first gold medal at the Bishkek Ranking series 2023.

Competing in the Nordic round, Manisha won four matches in the four rounds to win the gold.

Reetika, who also won a bronze at the Asian championships, took a silver in the women's 72kg event while former Asian champion and 2021 world championships bronze medallist Sarita Mor clinched a bronze in the women's 59kg category.