Three Indian wrestlers Ravi Kumar, Anshu Malik, and Deepak Punia will be in action in wrestling under various categories at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics on Wednesday, August 4.
Ravi Kumar will take on Colombia’s Oscar Tigreros in the Men’s Freestyle 57 kg category while Deepak Punia will grapple with Nigeria’s Ekerekeme Agiomor in the Men’s Freestyle 86 kg category.
Anshu Malik, the reigning Asian champion, will lock horns with the European champion Iryna Kurachkina of Belarus in the Women’s Freestyle 57 kg category and is likely to meet the Rio silver medallist Valeria Koblova in the quarter-finals if she qualifies. All the bouts will take place at the Makuhari Messe Hall.
The Indian wrestling contingent has begun its journey at the quadrennial games with Sonam Malik crashing out in her opening-round loss to Mongolia’s Bolortuya Khurelkhuu.
India has won consecutive medals in wrestling since 2008 when Sushil Kumar won the bronze. He again won a silver at London 2012 alongside Yogeshwar Dutt’s bronze. Sakshi Malik followed suit with a silver medal at Rio 2016.
India are fielding seven wrestlers with Bajrang Punia and Vinesh Phogat touted to be the prime medal contenders in Tokyo 2020. Bajrang Punia enters the Summer Games as the second seed in Men’s 65kg freestyle. In his last 10 major international tournaments, Punia has won six golds, three silvers, and a bronze. Vinesh Phogat, on the other hand, is the only wrestler to have an Olympic experience under her belt.
Tokyo 2020 Olympics wrestling schedule for Indian wrestlers on August 4
Ravi Kumar vs Oscar Tigreros - Men’s 57kg freestyle
Anshu Malik vs Iryna Kurachkina - Women’s 57kg freestyle
Deepak Punia vs Ekerekeme Agiomor - Men’s 86kg freestyle
Where to watch the Tokyo 2020 Olympics wrestling event live in India?
The wrestling event of August 4 at Tokyo 2020 Olympics will be telecast live on the Sony TEN 2, Sony TEN 2 HD, Sony SIX and Sony SIX HD TV channels in India. Sony TEN 3, Sony TEN 3 HD, Sony TEN 4 and Sony TEN 4 HD will broadcast the Olympic Games in regional languages.
Live streaming of the Tokyo Olympics freestyle wrestling will be available on the Sony Liv app and website.
Live broadcast subject to Sony Sports Network.
Featured photo : SAI Media
