World Wrestling: Controversial loss ends Bajrang's run in semis

Bajrang Punia stream-rolled one opponent after another to stay on course for his maiden World Championships title.

Bajrang Punia lost his semi-final bout against home wrestler Daulet Niyazbekov under controversial circumstances after sealing his Tokyo Olympics quota along with Ravi Dahiya, who made his presence felt in a star-studded field at the World Wrestling Championships, in Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan, on Thursday.

Bajrang's frustrated coach Shako Benitidis kicked the coach's block in anger after the 65kg bout ended 9-9 following a nerve-wracking six minutes.

Since Niyazbekov was given a bigger throw of four points in the bout, he was declared the winner.

In the fiercely-fought bout, the referee gave ample time to tiring Niyazbekov to catch his breath and he was not given caution at least thrice.

Instead, Niyazbekov was awarded four points when it was Bajrang who effected a throw at the edge of the circle.

"I challenged it and they should have given at least two points to Bajrang for that hold," said coach Benitidis.

Several times, Bajrang raised his hands in frustration but to no avail.

The last edition's silver medallist Indian will now fight for the bronze on Friday.

"It was clear that the mat chairman favoured the home wrestler," said a coach who did not wish to be named.

Ravi, who felled a few stars on his way to the 57kg semi-finals, lost 4-6 to reigning world champion Zaur Uguev of Russia and will also fight for the bronze.

Ravi also made it to the Tokyo Olympics after stunning Arsen Harutunyan, the 61kg European champion from Armenia and 2017 World champion and world number three Yuki Takahashi of Japan.

Meanwhile, India's campaign in the women's competition folded following Pooja Dhanda's defeat in the bronze medal bout and first round exits of Sakshi Malik and Divya Kak.

Making full use of an easy 65kg draw, Bajrang stream-rolled one opponent after another earlier in the day to reach the semi-finals.

Bajrang did not have to work much in going past Poland's Krzysztof Bienkowski in the opening round. He easily beat his opponent 9-2.

Bajrang's next opponent was David Habat who did not bother the Indian much though the Slovenian twice had his right leg in his clutches. The first chance was in first period from ground position and then in the standing position after the break.

The Slovanian, surprisingly, could not exploit the advantageous position.

In the quarter-finals against Korea's Jong Choi Son, Bajrang lost a point for stepping out but won the bout comfortably 8-1 after that.

In an incredible debut, Ravi won the first two bouts by technical superiority in the 57kg.

In a remarkable turnaround he erased a six-point deficit to log 17 points in a row with his counter-attack to shock Arsen Harutunyan, the 61kg European champion from Armenia.

What was impressive about Ravi was that despite trailing 0-6, he kept his cool and stayed in the bout and eventually found a way to tear apart the defence of the Armenian.     

There was a bit of drama towards the end when Armenia challenged the bout-finishing point. After much delay and watching replays, Ravi was declared the winner.

Ravi's first victim was Korea' Sunggwon Kim.

In the quarter-finals, he was up against 2017 world champion and world number three Yuki Takahashi, one of the toughest to beat in 57kg, but Ravi showed tremendous composure to eke out a 6-1 win.

The Indian did not let the formidable Japanese play his game as he restricted his famous swift movement.

In the women's competition, Pooja could not match his last year's bronze winning performance as she lost the 59kg bronze medal play-off 3-5 to 2018 Asian champion Xingru Pei of China.

There was no end to the woes of Rio Olympic bronze medallist Sakshi Maik, who lost her opening round 7-10 to Nigeria's Aminat Adeniyi. She was knocked out of the tournamernt after the Nigerian lost her quarter-final bout.

Sakshi waited too long to attack while her powerful opponent moved quickly.

In the 68kg, Divya Kakran could not do much against reigning Olympic champion Sara Dosho from Japan, losing the bout 0-2.

Dosho later lost her quarter-final bout, closing repechage doors on Divya.