Wrestling: How did Indian wrestlers fare at Tokyo 2020?

India continued their medal streak in wrestling at the Olympics as Ravi Kumar Dahiya and Bajrang Punia ended up on the podium, in their respective weight categories, at Tokyo 2020.

Dahiya won a silver medal in the men’s freestyle 57kg category while Punia lived up to the expectations pinned on him by claiming bronze in a competitive 65kg category.

At Beijing 2008, Sushil Kumar won India’s first medal in wrestling since KD Jadhav’s bronze at Helsinki 1952. But the country has won at least one medal in every edition of the Olympics since. The last time they won two medals in wrestling was at London 2012, when Sushil Kumar won silver (66kg category) and Yogeshwar Dutt won bronze (60kg).

A total of seven wrestlers had represented India at Tokyo 2020. Here’s how they fared:

Ravi Kumar Dahiya

A student at the famous Chhatrasal Stadium, Ravi Kumar Dahiya had grown up watching, and wanting to emulate, his hero Sushil Kumar’s feats.

The 23-year-old achieved that in his very first Olympics as he won silver in the 57kg category, becoming the first Indian wrestler since Sushil Kumar to reach a final.

Dahiya had started with two easy wins: 13-2 over Oscar Urbano and 14-4 over Georgi Vangelov. But it was in the semifinals that he showed his true caliber. The Indian has trailing 2-9 at one point, but scored a victory by fall over Kazakhistan's Nurislam Sanayev. He pinned his opponent on the mat for a three-count to win the bout despite trailing 7-9 in points.

He was engaged in a tough battle for the gold, but eventually went down 4-7 to Zavur Uguev of the ROC in the final.

Bajrang Punia

One of India’s biggest medal hopes, Bajrang Punia walked into the wrestling arena with a strapped knee.

He edged past Ernazar Akmataliev 3-3 in the opening round but pinned Morteza Ghiasi Cheka to storm into the semifinal.

The 27-year-old, who was making his Olympic debut, went down 5-12 to Haji Aliyev in the semifinal. But the Indian, struggling with a knee niggle, completely outclassed Daulet Niyazbekov 8-0 to win the bronze medal.

Deepak Punia

Deepak Punia started his Tokyo 2020 campaign, in the men’s freestyle 86kg category, with a dominant 12-1 win over Nigeria’s Ekerekeme Agiomor.

The 22-year-old from Jhajjar overcame a spirited challenge from China’s Zushen Lin, winning 6-3 to enter the semifinal.

But Punia went down 0-10 to USA’s David Taylor in the semis and lost 2-4 to San Marino’s Myles Nazem Amine in the bronze medal playoff.

Vinesh Phogat

Ranked No 1 in the world, Vinesh Phogat was one of India’s biggest medal hopes for Tokyo 2020.

The 26-year-old, who belongs to the famous wrestling family, suffered a horrific knee injury during Rio 2016 and was determined to erase that memory.

She started off the Tokyo 2020 campaign with a 7-1 win over Sofia Mattsson. But the Indian wrestler proved no match for Vanesa Kaladzinskaya, going down 3-9 in the 53kg quarterfinal.

Sonam Malik

Only 19 years of age, Sonam Malik’s opening bout in 62kg against Mongolia’s Bolortuya Khurelkhuu finished at 2-2. But since her opponent had scored a two-point move, she advanced into the quarterfinals.

Anshu Malik

The 20-year-old had a baptism by fire as she took on Iryna Kurachkina in the opening round of the 57kg category. The Belarusian cruised to a 8-2 win. But Malik’s Olympics was revived as Kurachkina stormed to the final.

In the first round of repechage, Malik went down 1-5 to Valreia Koblova of the ROC.

Seema Bisla

At 29, Seema Bisla was the oldest Indian wrestler on show.

But the Indian didn’t have a memorable Olympic debut as she lost 1-3 to Tunisia’s Sarra Hamdi in the opening round.