CHENNAI: Ronak Dahiya might have missed out on a medal at the U20 World Championships in Bratislava, Slovakia but he will have another chance to vie for the podium finish. This time at the U23 World Championships scheduled in Las Vegas, USA from October 12 to 18. Dahiya, who probably is the only wrestler in the country to compete both in freestyle and Greco-Roman, won the selection trial held in the 125kg FS on Tuesday to book a place in the team. The trials were held at the SAI Centre in Lucknow.
Ronak gave a good account of himself at the U20 Worlds as he won the qualification and 1/8 final by technical superiority. He, however, lost the quarterfinal bout 2-3 against Yusif Dursunov of Azerbaijan. The loss proved costly as Dursunov lost the semifinal against American wrestler Dreshan T Ross. The Azerbaijan wrestler's defeat in the semifinal meant Ronak couldn't make it to the repechage round.
Ronak recently won a silver medal at the U20 Asian Championships held in Pattaya, Thailand. He has won a silver (2023) and a bronze (2024) in the U17 World Championships in the GR style. Interestingly, the Wrestling Federation of India also tried to include him in the Asian Games after Deepanshu (130kg) failed the dope test. Ronak has finished second behind him in the selection trials. Ronak, who trains at the iconic Chhatrasal Stadium in the national capital, represents Delhi in the national tournaments.
Meanwhile, wrestlers from Maharashtra also made their presence felt as four of them (three in FS and one in GR) won trials in their respective weight categories. The winners in each weight category will compete at the Worlds while the second will also stay in the camp and prepare for the upcoming tournaments.
India squad
Freestyle
57kg: 1st Rohit (Har), 2nd Rupesh (Har)
61kg: 1st Vaibhav Naryana Patil (Mah), 2nd Pushp (Har)
65kg: 1st Jaskaran Singh (Pun), 2nd Rohit Kumar (Har)
70kg: 1st Sumit Kumar Laxmanbharaskar (Mah), 2nd Siddarth (Del)
74kg: 1st Adharsh Yuvraj Patil (Mah), 2nd Narender (SSCB)
79kg: 1st Chandermohan (SSCB), 2nd Saurabh Yadav (UP)
86kg: 1st Amit (SSCB), 2nd Sahil Dalal (SSCB)
92kg: 1st Nikhil (Har), 2nd Vansh Gulia (Har)
97kg: 1st Shivam (Har), 2nd Sahil Khan (Raj)
125kg: 1st Ronak (Del), 2nd Jaspooran Singh (Pun)
Greco-Roman
55kg: 1st Vishwajeet More (SSCB), 2nd Neeraj Patel (MP)
60kg: 1st Samartha (Mah), 2nd Arshpreet Singh (Del)
63kg: 1st Chetan (Del), 2nd Gourav Har (SSCB)
67kg: 1st Sagar Singh (Pun), 2nd Mauli (Mah)
72kg: 1st Saurabh Rana (UP), 2nd Anuj Kumar (Del)
77kg: 1st Dheeraj Malik (Har), 2nd Mahesh Rathore (MP)
82kg: 1st Sachin Kumar (Har), 2nd Akhilesh (Har)
87kg: 1st Karan Kamboj (Pun), 2nd Rohit (Har)
97kg: 1st Nikhil (Har), 2nd Aman (SSCB)
130kg: 1st Hardeep (Har), 2nd Piyush Kumar (Har)