Indian Wrestlers who qualified for Tokyo Olympics

Gone are those days when the participation of Indian wrestlers was really low in the Olympics. As years are passing on, the number of Indian wrestlers in the Olympics is also gradually increasing. It is a good sign which indicates that the number will boost in the upcoming years. When it comes to wrestling, Indian wrestlers have shown great performance, competition, promise, and dedication in the Olympics and also bagged medals in the name of the nation. Our country has 5 medals in wrestling- one silver medal and the rest four are bronze. 

Likewise every year, this year too some Indian wrestlers are competing in the Tokyo Olympics which is going to be held in Tokyo from 23rd July to 8 August. 8 wrestlers from our country have been qualified for the Olympics this year- Deepak Punia (Men's Freestyle 86 kg), Ravi Kumar Dahiya, (Men's Freestyle 57 kg), Bajrang Punia, (Men's Freestyle 65 kg), Vinesh Phogat (Women's Freestyle 53 kg), Seema Bisla (Women's Freestyle, 50kg), Anshu Malik (Women's Freestyle 57kg), Sumit Malik (Men's Freestyle 125 kg), and Sonam Malik (Women's Freestyle 62kg).

Read Also: Indian Athletes Qualified for 2020 Olympics in Tokyo: In Detail

1. Deepak Punia (Men's Freestyle 86 kg)

Deepak Punia is an Indian freestyle wrestler who created history for himself and this nation. He is the first Indian wrestler who won the "Junior Freestyler of the Year" award in 2019. 2019 was going great for him as in that very year, he showed a spectacular performance in the world championships and was also selected to compete in the final but all was not well in the end and he could not participate in the final match because of an injury.

2. Vinesh Phogat (Women's Freestyle 53 kg)

The first Indian woman wrestler to win a gold medal in the commonwealth and Asian games and the first Indian athlete to be nominated for Laureus World Sports Award is none other than Vinesh Phogat. She is also the first Indian woman to get qualified for the Tokyo Olympics.

Read Also: A Glimpse of Indian Female Athletes Who Qualified for Tokyo Olympics

3. Ravi Kumar Dahiya, (Men's Freestyle 57 kg)

Ravi Kumar Dahiya started his debut games with a bang. In the pre-quarterfinals, he defeated the European champion, Arsen Harutyunyan and in the quarterfinal, he defeated Yuki Takahashi. These wins helped him to grab one quota place for the Summer Olympics, 2020. In the semifinal round, he wrestled against Zaur Uguev but unfortunately lost the round and he was rewarded with the bronze medal. Later he became a part of the Ministry o Youth Affairs and Sports' Target Olympic Podium Scheme (TOPS). He gained the gold medal at the 2020 Asian Wrestling Championships in New Delhi in the year 2020.

4. Sonam Malik (Women's Freestyle 62kg)

The 18-year-old wrestler Sonam Malik had an exciting and enthralling match against Ayaulym Kassymova in the semi-finals. At the beginning of the match was entirely on Kassymova's side but soon Sonam made a comeback and finished the match to 9-6 and secured her place in the Tokyo Olympics in the 62 kg category. She has been working very hard and showing great results for the last few years. In 2018, she won the silver medal at the cadet World championship and in 2017 and 2019, she won the gold medal for the same competition, cadet World championship.

5.  Anshu Malik (Women's Freestyle 57kg)

The 19-year-old wrestler Anshu Malik has been qualified at the Tokyo Olympics alongside Sonam Malik. She is the fifth Indian wrestler to book her berth in the Olympics wrestling and she has also won the bronze medals in the 57 kg event at the 2020 Asian Wrestling Championships in New Delhi. Again in 2020, she won the silver medal in the women's 57 kg event at the 2020 Individual Wrestling World Cup in Belgrade, Serbia.

Read Also: Indian Boxers who qualified for the Tokyo Olympics 2020

6. Seema Bisla (Women's Freestyle, 50kg)

Seema Bisla has been qualified for the Tokyo Olympics in the 50 kg category after making it to the finals of the world Olympic qualifier in Bulgaria. She is the eighth Indian wrestler who has been qualified for the Tokyo Olympics. To reach this stage, she made some exclusive performances and also won three consecutive wins. At first, she defeated Anastasiya Yanotava by 8-0, then Emma Malmgren by 10-2, and finally Anna Lukasiak by 2-1 and bagged her berth into the finals and the Tokyo Olympics.

7. Bajrang Punia, (Men's Freestyle 65 kg)

Bajrang Punia is a freestyle Indian wrestler in the 65 kg category. He has won medals and made our nation proud by succeeding in many prestigious international competitions. The 27 years aged wrestler has three gold medals after his name at the World Wrestling Championships. He was also the third rank holder in the world in the initial months of 2020. After that, he started winning consecutively in the world championship and the Matteo Pellicone Event which was held in Rome. These wins made him qualified for the Tokyo Olympics.

8. Sumit Malik (Men's Freestyle 125 kg)

Sumit Malik, the Indian Freestyle Wrestler, defeated Aiaal Lazarev of Kyrgyzstan by 2-2, Alexandr Romanov of Moldovan by 2-2, and Rustam Iskandari of Tajikistan by a huge margin of 19-5. And after such consecutive spectacular performance by him, he has been qualified for the Tokyo Olympics.