Ravi Kumar Dahiya: All you need to know about his titles and achievements
The wrestler from Haryana has assured himself a medal at Tokyo 2020
Ravi Kumar Dahiya has won a silver medal at Tokyo 2020 after reaching the final of the 57kg freestyle wrestling, India's fifth medal at the ongoing Olympics.
Ravi Kumar was beaten in the gold medal match by ROC's Zaur Uguev 7-4 on Thursday. Ravi had reached the summit clash courtesy of a thrilling victory by fall over Kazakhstan’s Nurislam Sanayev in the semi-finals on Wednesday.
With the silver medal, Ravi Kumar has become the second Indian wrestler to win an Olympic silver after Sushil Kumar at London 2012.
As the Indian, who has won a couple of Asian Championship and a World Championship medal, basks in his glory, let us have a look at all his titles and achievements so far.
World U23 Championship: Silver
In 2018, Dahiya put up a stunning performance at the World U23 Championship. He was returning from a knee injury and had a lot to prove on the mat.
The 23-year-old did not disappoint and raced to the gold medal match where he faced Japan's, Toshihiro Hasegawa. Though Ravi Kumar could not win gold on that day, a silver in itself was a creditable achievement.
Asian Championship 2020: Gold
Dahiya earned his first gold in the Asian Championship in 2020. Throughout the tournament, Dahiya was phenomenal. In the quarter-final, against Mongolian Batjargal Tugs, he pinned his opponent down to win with two minutes left on the clock. Earlier in the semifinal, he met Sanayev, and his double leg attacks were too much for the Kazakh to handle and Dahiya won by a comfortable margin of 7-2.
Asian Championship 2021: Gold
Dahiya successfully defended his Asian Championship gold medal in Almaty, earlier this year. He had a nervy start to the tournament against Uzbekistan's Nodirjon Safarov and struggled to get a grip on his opponent. However, in the second period, he quickly got into the rhythm and with his ferocious leg attacks, he won the bout 9-2.
In the next fight, he took on Palestine's Ali M M Aburumaila and gave no chance to his opposition as he won on technical superiority. In the finals, he took on Iran's Alireza Nosratolah Sarlak. Both the wrestlers tried to score quick points but within a couple of minutes, it became clear that Dahiya was technically superior to his opponent, and his skills on the mat outwitted Sarlak 9-4.
World Championship 2019: Bronze
Dahiya announced his arrival in the World Championship in Nur Sutan with an 11-0 win over Kim Sung-gwon. At the back of this crushing victory, he marched on to the Round of 32 where he faced Arsen Harutyunyan and won 17-6. He had to face his first formidable opponent in the quarterfinals in Japan's former World Champion Yuki Takahashi. It was a close bout but in the second period, he outsmarted Takahashi and won 6-1. In the semifinals, he had to contest against Russian legend Zaur Uguev, the one he will be facing in the Olympic final. Although Dahiya gave Uguev a run for his money, he was edged out 6-4.
“He did not wrestle for the last two minutes. His strategy was better,” he said after the bout. “I think I had him all the time. The four-point throw in the second period was my mistake.”
In the bronze medal match, he put up another impressive display to stun then reigning Asian Champion Reza Atri Nagarchi of Iran 6-3 to win his maiden World Championship medal.