CHENNAI: IT was a close bout but the result has kept the 74kg weight category open for the two Olympic qualifiers scheduled in April and May this year. Maharashtra's Narsingh Yadav was making his national comeback after serving a four-year dope ban.
He was India's preferred wrestler in the division for the Individual World Cup held in Belgrade, Serbia in December. All eyes were on him when he met Amit Dhankar of Haryana in the second round of the 65th men's senior freestyle national championship being organised at Noida Stadium on Saturday.
As expected, it turned out to be a close bout with Narsingh losing 3-4 to Amit. India's two-time Olympic medallist Sushil Kumar (74kg) had skipped the meet paving way for the 31-year-old Narsingh to stake his claim in the weight category for the qualifiers. However, the loss meant the 2015 World Championships bronze medallist will have to clear selection trials to book his berth for the Olympic qualifiers.
Despite the category boasting big names like Jitender Kinha, Amit, Gourav Baliyan and Parveen Rana, it was Punjab's Sandeep Singh who emerged gold medallist.
Sandeep had finished first in the 79kg weight category in the 2019 nationals but had opted for 74kg in his quest to qualify for the Tokyo Games. The 20-year-old's emergence will make competition tough for others, who are vying for a place in the national team for the qualifiers. "He hails from Mansa in Punjab. He decided to compete in the 74kg as this is the Olympic weight category. The win in the final over Jitender, who won a silver in the 2020 Asian Championships, will certainly boost his confidence," PR Sondhi, secretary of Punjab Wrestling Association, told this daily.
Finals in five weight categories — 57kg, 61kg, 74kg, 92kg and 125kg — were held on Saturday. The bouts in the remaining five weight categories — 65kg, 70kg, 79kg, 86kg and 97kg — will take place on Sunday. The medallists from this championship will assemble for the national camp at SAI centre in Sonepat on January 28.
The Wrestling Federation of India is expected to organise trials in weight categories including 74kg wherein wrestlers have yet not qualified for the Games. Only four Indians — Bajrang Punia (65kg) and Vinesh Phogat (53kg), Deepak Punia (86kg), and Ravi Dahiya (57kg) — have qualified for the Olympics so far. The women's nationals will be held in Agra on January 30 and 31 while the Greco-Roman competition will be held in Jalandhar on February 20 and 21.
Gold medallists
57 kg: Pankaj (SSCB), 61kg: Ravinder (SSCB), 74kg: Sandeep Singh (PUB), 92kg: Praveen (RSPB), 125kg: Sumit (RSPB).