CHIBA: Indian wrestler Ravi Dahiya made a confident start to his Olympics campaign, winning by technical superiority against Colombia's Tigreros Urbano to reach the men's freestyle 57kg quarterfinals, here on Wednesday.
The fourth-seeded Indian consistently attacked the right leg of his opponent and apart from conceding a take-down in the first period, he remained dominant.
Dahiya, the reigning Asian champion, nailed the win with one minute and 10 seconds still remaining in the bout, which was stopped after he raced to a winning 13-2 lead.
The Indian effected five take-down moves in the second period, showing his technical prowess.
Dahiya will next face Bulgaria's Georgi Valentinov Vangelov, who also beat his first round opponent, Abdelhak Kherbache of Algeria, by technical superiority.
However, wrestler Anshu Malik lost to Belarus' Iryna Kurachkina in the Women's freestyle 57 kg 1/8 Final event here in the Tokyo Olympics at the Makuhari Messe Hall A Mat B on Wednesday.
Iryna Kurachkina defeated Indian teenager Anshu 8-2 to advance in the quarter-finals at the ongoing Tokyo 2020 Olympics. Participating at her maiden Games, Anshu fought bravely but couldn't stand a chance against the seasoned pro.
The Belarusian, a two-time bronze medalist at the World Wrestling Championships, made sure to use her experience against the Indian teenager as she comfortably took down Anshu with one-leg takes and took the four points in the first half.
Starting the second half, the 19-year-old Anshu gave some spirited fightback to Kurachkina by throwing her out of the mat as she registered her first two points at the Games. But the 27-year-old made sure that the Indian was not able to make any comebacks in the dying moments of the second half as she bagged another 4 points.
Earlier, Ravi Dahiya stormed into the quarter-finals of the men's freestyle 57kg category after overpowering Colombia's Oscar Eduardo Tigreros Urbano here at Makuhari Messe Hall A -- Mat A. Fourth-seeded Ravi comfortably overcame the challenge of Oscar Eduardo by the Technical Superiority of 13-2.
(With ANI Inputs)