Nagoya, A dominant Sujeet Kalkal powered into the men’s 65kg semifinals with a pair of commanding victories, including a technical superiority win over Iran’s Abbas Ebrahimzadehsavadkouhi, while three other Indians suffered opening-round defeats in the Asian Games wrestling competition here Friday.
Sujeet first overcame Afghanistan’s Sayed Omar Zazai 9-3 before producing a clinical performance against Abbas in the quarterfinal to seal his place in the last four. Sujeet was given an early scare by Zazai, who immediately found a two-pointer and then pushed the Indian out to take a 3-0 lead. The Indian, however, quickly turned the bout around with a push-out and a shoulder throw to move ahead 5-3. He then added four more points with another throw and a roll to complete a 9-3 victory and progress to the quarterfinals. Against Abbas, Sujeet made his intentions clear within the opening 20 seconds, executing a shoulder throw from a standing position. When the Iranian attempted a leg attack, Sujeet countered effectively to move 6-0 ahead. Sujeet converted another right-leg attack into points to take an imposing 8-0 lead at the end of the first period. The Indian needed little time in the second period, executing another takedown to complete a 10-0 technical superiority win and book his place in the semifinals. Earlier, young Indian wrestler Dipanshi Phogat suffered a 0-10 technical superiority defeat against formidable Japanese Yui Susaki in the women’s 50kg pre-quarterfinal. Rajat Ruhul also exited the men’s 125kg competition after losing his pre-quarterfinal 3-8 to Kazakhstan’s Yedige Kassimbekin. Priya Malik was beaten 1-6 by Kyrgyzstan’s Aiperi Medet Kyzy in the women’s 76kg pre-quarterfinal.
He was initially awarded four points but the move was revised to two as Abbas did not land in a danger position. Sujeet soon came close to securing a fall, but Abbas managed to escape, with the Indian adding two more points. Abbas struggled to mount any sustained attack as the Indian repeatedly thwarted his attempts with headlocks. Sujeet will next face home favourite and Olympic champion Kotaro Kiyooka for a place in the gold-medal bout. This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.
