Junior World Championships: Wrestler Ravinder to fight for gold; Gourav Baliyan, Deepak take bronze

Ufa (Russia), August 17

Upcoming Indian wrestler Ravinder lined himself up for his second international title by reaching the 61kg final of the junior world championships, while Gourav Baliyan (79kg) and Deepak (97kg) won bronze medals here on Tuesday.

The 20-year-old Baliyan won the bronze play-off in just 65 seconds, winning his bout against Germany’s Richard Shroeder by technical superiority. He began with a four-point throw and before the German could gather himself, Baliyan came up with consecutive take-down moves to end the bout.

Deepak took the 97kg bronze with a 3-2 win over Milan Andras Korcsog from Hungary.

Ravinder controlled the semifinal against Armenia’s Levik Mikayelyan after trailing 0-2, losing both points on push-out. His tactical acumen was on display as he kept effecting point-scoring moves one after another, specially with double-leg attacks. Three consecutive take-down moves pushed him into lead and he consolidated that with one more. He finished the bout on technical superiority with a four-pointer, with which he threw the Armenian out of the mat after getting hold of the right leg of his rival.

Ravinder had won the Asian cadet title in 2018 and also won a silver at the 2019 Under-23 world championships.

Among the other Indians in action, Yash (74kg) lost in the pre-quarterfinals while Vetal Shelkle (86kg), Pruthviraj Patil (92kg) and Aniruddh (125kg) lost in the quarterfinals. Shubham (57kg) and Rohit (65kg) lost their repechage rounds. — PTI