Kajal, Neelam in World Wrestling final

Two Indian women wrestlers, Kajal Dhochak and Neelam Sirohi, advanced to the finals of the World Wrestling Championships in Astana on Tuesday, scripting history as the first Indian women to reach the finals at the event. Kajal Dhochak will compete in the women’s 76kg final on Sunday against two-time European Champion Anastasiya Alpyeyeva of Ukraine. Neelam Sirohi will face legendary Japanese wrestler Yui Susaki in the women’s 50kg final. By reaching the finals, both wrestlers confirmed at least two medals for India at the World Wrestling Championships.

Kajal Dhochak’s path to the final

Kajal Dhochak, a two-time U20 world champion, came from 1-7 down to beat Kyrgyzstan’s Aiperi Medet Kyzy, last edition’s silver medallist, 10-7 in a thrilling semifinal bout. Earlier, she produced a convincing 9-2 victory over Mongolia’s Davaanasan Enkh Amar to advance to the last-four stage. She began her campaign by recording a victory by fall over Lithuania’s Kamile Griskiene Gaucaite.

Neelam Sirohi’s path to the final

In the 50kg semifinals, Neelam Sirohi took down local favourite Zeinep Bayanova 7-3 to set up the final against Yui Susaki. Neelam blanked Belarus’ Natallia Varakina 6-0 in her 50kg pre-quarterfinal bout and advanced to the last four after top seed Elizaveta Smirnova of Russia withdrew from the quarterfinals due to an injury.

Other Indian results at the championships

In the women’s 65kg category, Rajnita stunned 2024 World silver medallist Kateryna Zelenykh 8-6 in a qualification bout. She later lost her pre-quarterfinal bout by technical superiority to Irina Ringaci of Moldova. Since Ringaci reached the final, Rajnita will be back in action in the repechage with the aim of clinching the bronze medal. Neha Sharma advanced to the pre-quarterfinals of the women’s 57kg category with a hard-fought 4-2 win over Algeria’s Achouak Djamila Tekouk but went down 1-4 to Belarus’ Iryna Kurachkina in the next round. India’s Greco-Roman wrestlers drew a blank with only Lalit in the 55kg category making the medal round while the others cut a sorry figure.

About the World Wrestling Championships

The World Wrestling Championships is an international competition that brings together the best wrestlers from around the world to compete for medals across various weight categories.

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Sources

• The Bridge

• Sportstar

• Photo: ClickerHappy, Pixabay Content License (Pixabay)