Tokyo Olympics : Wrestler Ravi Kumar Dahiya secures quarterfinal spot in 57kg category

Tokyo : Indian grappler Ravi Kumar Dahiya won his opening-round bout by technical superiority against Colombia’s Oscar Tigreros to secure a quarterfinal spot in the 57kg quarterfinals at the Tokyo Olympics on Wednesday.Competing in the Round-of-16 bout against the Colombian wrestler, the 23-year-old Dahiya, who is making his Olympic debut at the Makuhari Messe Hall in Chiba, showed no nerves as he dominated the bout to win by technical superiority (13-2).Dahiya, the reigning Asian champion and World Championships bronze medallist in his weight category, dictated the terms early on and kept Tigreros under pressure.The Indian soon got rewarded as he executed a single-leg takedown to go 2-0 up.

Tigreros, a two-time Pan American silver medallist, however, responded with a fine two-point move of his own to level up the scores.In the closing exchanges of the first period, Dahiya went ahead again as he took a one-point lead.In the opening exchanges of the second period, Dahiya used his nimble footwork and speed to good effect to overwhelmed the Colombian.Dahiya landed attack after attack and went 13-2 up, winning the bout by technical superiority with minutes to spare. In wrestling, building up a 10-point lead over the opponent results in a victory by technical superiority.Dahiya will take on Bulgaria’s Georgi Vangelov, who won his opening bout against Algeria’s Abdelhak Kherbache by fall, in the quarterfinals.