Indian wrestler Bajrang Punia punched his ticket to the Tokyo 2020 Olympics as he beat Jong Sol from North Korea in the quarter-finals of the World Wrestling Championship on Thursday. Bajrang Punia became the third Indian to qualify for the Olympics after Ravi Kumar and Vinesh Phogat on Olympic quota. Vinesh Phogat is her own person, was proved yet again when she altered the strategy devised by the coaches for the key Olympic qualification match and came out trumps. Meanwhile, Ravi Kumar kept Indian hopes alive after his impressive 11-4 win over Korea's Kim Sunggwon in just 2 minutes and 59 seconds.

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Bajrang Punia's road to victory

Bajrang Punia beat North Korea's Jong Sol 8-1 to move on to the semi-finals of the World Wrestling Championship. The victory ensures India a medal in the tournament alongside helping Bajrang Punia qualify for Tokyo 2020 Olympics. Bajrang Punia had comprehensively beaten  Poland’s Krzysztof Bienkowski in his opening bout by a 9-2 margin in the 65kg Round of 16. Bajrang's Polish counterpart had managed to pick up a couple of points but the Indian wrestler was just too good for him as the bout was won without breaking any sweat. By the virtue of this win, Bajrang qualified for the pre-quarterfinals. The Asia Games 2018 gold medalist then went on to defeat Slovakia's David Habat  3-0 to consolidate his place in the quarterfinals. If Bajrang Punia succeeds in winning another bout, then he will qualify for the gold medal match. 

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Vinesh Phogat qualifies for 2020 Olympics

Vinesh Phogat had defeated World Silver medallist Sarah Hildebrandt 8-2 in the second repechage round and had qualified for the Tokyo Olympics 2020. Vinesh was too good for her American opponent and dominated the bout from the beginning and never allowed her opponent a grip in the bout. In today's first repechage, Vinesh defeated Ukraine's Yuliia Khavaldzhy 5-0 in a one-sided match while Seema Bisla (50 kg) got the better off Nigeria's Miesinnie Genesis 9-9 on criteria. Last night, Vinesh and Seema remained in the hunt for a bronze medal as they reached the repechage round in their respective categories.

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