In India’s best-ever performance at World Wrestling Championship, with three Indians bagging bronze medals, Deepak Punia (86kg) will w aim for an elusive gold as he becomes second Indian ever to reach Championship final in history. A month after winning Junior World Championships, Deepak is w one win away from bagging gold which only Sushil Kumar h clinched in 2010 in Moscow. 

Punia gets his ticket to 2020 Olympics

19-year-old, who became youngest Indian ever to make it to final of World Championships, also booked his ticket for 2020 Olympics in Tokyo. Deepak, who also won World Cet title in 2016, is thus fourth Indian grappler to book his Tokyo tickets this week, following Vinesh Phogat, Bajrang Punia, and Ravi Kumar Dahiya. While each of m pocketed a bronze medal, Deepak will be only Indian to return home with a medal of a better colour, guaranteeing India’s best-ever finish.

RE | Bajrang Punia punches ticket to Tokyo 2020, third Indian to qualify

Rahul Aware to contend for Bronze at Championships

While Deepak was easily star of show on penultimate day of championships, Rahul Aware (61kg) also remains in contention for bronze in n-Olympic category. Deepak me a slow and nervous start to his maiden campaign at Worlds but showed terrific maturity and presence of mind to turn tables. Trailing 0-5 against home favourite ilet Davlumbayev, Punia stormed back to complete an 8-6 comeback win. Against Tajikistan’s Bakhodur Kodirov, Punia never relinquished his control to secure a commanding 6-0 win and n followed it up with a gritty and hard-fought 7-6 victory over Carlos Arturo Izquierdo Mendez of Colombia that gave him prized Olympic berth.

RE | Deepa Malik joins Bajrang Punia for Khel Ratna, Ravindra Jeja among 19 or Arjuna awardees

In semi-finals, Deepak beat Switzerland’s Stefan Reichmuth 8-2 to set up a final showdown with Olympic and world champion Hassan Aliazam Yazdani Charati of Iran. Commonwealth Games gold medallist Rahul Aware me a thunderous start to his challenge with an emphatic 13-2 victory over Turkmenistan’s Kerim Hojakov. Against Kazakhstan’s Rassul Kaliyev in last-eight round, Indian h to dig deep and relied on his finesse to secure a 10-7 victory. Aware came up short against European Championship silver medallist Beka Lomtze of Georgia, 6-10 in a very fast semi-final match. Meanwhile, Jitender (79kg) lost in quarter-finals to Slovakia’s Taimuraz Salkazav 0-4. In 97kg, Mausam Khatri was completely outplayed by reigning Olympic champion Kyle Frederick Snyder of USA in 0-10 verdict. With both ir opponents failing to reach finals, Jitender and Khatri bowed out of championships.

RE | Bajrang Punia wins gold in Bulgaria, dedicates medal to Abhinandan Varthaman

RE | Sakshi Malik loses her first bout in World Wrestling Championships