Aman Sehrawat ended the interminable wait for men’s freestyle wrestlers by winning India's first Paris Olympics quota in the 57kg division at the World Olympic qualifier in Istanbul on Saturday.

An Asian Games medallist, Aman did it in style by winning all his bouts comfortably and sealed the quota place by beating Asian Games silver medallist Chongsong Han of North Korea 12-2 in the semi-final. It will also throw a lifeline to Tokyo Olympics silver medallist Ravi Dahiya who competes in the same weight class. An Olympic quota belongs to the country and Aman, in all likelihood, will have to win the selection trials at home to make it to Paris.

Sujeet Kalkal also showed good form to make it to the semi-final, but lost to experienced Tomor-Ochiryn Tulga of Mongolia 1-6. However, the 22-year-old, who competes in Tokyo Olympics bronze medallist Bajrang Punia’s weight category (65kg) – Punia is suspended over a controversial doping infringement -- will have another shot at the Paris quota in the repechage on Sunday. Last month, Sujeet was unfortunate to not make it for the Asian qualifiers in Bishkek, Kyrgystan in time for his competitions after being stranded at the flooded Dubai airport with Deepak Punia.

Aman was solid all through. The Asian championships gold medallist cruised through his bouts against Georgi Vangelov (10-4) and Ukraine's Andrii Yatsenko (12-2) to storm into the quarter-finals.

This was Aman's third attempt to qualify for the Paris Olympics. He has been India's No.1 wrestler in a weight class in which Ravi Dahiya won an Olympic medal in Tokyo. While Dahiya was sidelined last year due to a knee injury that required surgery, Aman took over the mantle. He beat Dahiya in the selection trials at home to earn a shot at the Paris qualification.

Aman has been making good progress in the last two years. In 2022, he became the world U23 champion. Last year, he won bronze at the Hangzhou Asian Games and gold at the Asian Championships in Astana. However, the Olympics berth had eluded him at the 2023 world championships and the Asian Qualifiers last month.

Aman gave an impressive performance in the crucial semi-final that sealed the quota for him. Against Chongsong Han, he opened his scoring with a stepout. The match looked tight at the end of the first period with Aman leading 3-2. However, Aman stepped up brilliantly in the second period scoring in counters. With a takedown he increased the lead to 6-2 and then kept up the attacking tempo, wrapping up the match in style with a leg lace roll for a 12-2 verdict.

Sujeet, a 2022 U20 Worlds medallist, lost a low-scoring bout to Ochir. The Mongolian got two points on passivity before an attacking move in the second period saw him win the bout 6-1. Before that, Sujeet scored fine victories against Tokyo Olympian Yun Jun-sik Yun of Korea and Lachlan McNeil of Canada, winning both matches by superiority. In his first bout, he scraped past Umidjon Jalolov of Uzbekistan 3-2.

However, it was the end of the road for Tokyo Olympian Deepak Punia, who crashed out after losing to Zushen Lin from China 4-6 in his opening bout.

Read Also: orange cap list ipl 2024 after kkr vs mi: sunil narine, phil salt fail to rise; virat kohli remains on top