Bajrang Punia, Ravi Dahiya eliminated from Paris Olympics qualification race
Sonepat (Haryana), Mar 10: Bajrang Punia and Ravi Dahiya -- the Tokyo Games medallists -- were on Sunday eliminated from the race for the Paris Olympics qualification after losing their respective bouts in the selection trials for the national team.
Punia, who was a prominent face of protest against former WFI President Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, suffered a crushing 1-9 defeat in the men's freestyle 65kg semifinal against Rohit Kumar.
This was after he barely managed to win against Ravinder (3-3 on criteria) in the opening round.
If Ravinder had not conceded a caution point in the bout, Punia would have been eliminated in the opening bout itself.
Punia had trained in Russia to prepare for the trials, which are being organised by the IOA ad-hoc panel.
Punia though won a case in the Delhi High Court after contending that the suspended Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) had no authority to conduct trials.
He left the Sports Authority of India (SAI) Centre here in a huff after being eliminated. The National Anti-Doping Agency (NADA) officials tried to collect a sample for a dope test from Punia but he did not stay back even for the third-fourth place bout.
As fate would have it, it will be Sujeet Kalakal who will now strive to earn qualification in the 65kg for the Paris Games after winning a spot in the Indian team.
Sujeet had lost a legal case against Punia when he had challenged his direct entry for the Hangzhou Asian Games. Sujeet beat Rohit by technical superiority in the final.
"We have always done well in 65kg and Bajrang won a Olympic medal so it is a big responsibility for me to go and win a quota place for the country," Sujit said on Sunday.
Rohit will now represent India at the Asian Championships.
The winners at the trials will get the opportunity to compete at Asian and World Olympic Qualifiers to be held in Bishkek from April 19-21 and in Istanbul from May 9-12.
The men's 57kg, being organised in Nordic format, was always a tough category since both Tokyo Games silver medallist Ravi Dahiya and star-in-making Aman Sehrawat were in contention.
Dahiya, who is making a comeback from an injury, lost the high-scoring opening bout 13-14 to Aman. Both of them train at Chhatarsal Stadium.
Aman has made a name for himself after winning medal at almost all tournaments in 2023 when Dahiya did not compete. Aman, the Asian Games bronze medallist, staved a last-minute push from Dahiya to win the close bout. Dahiya lost the next bout to U20 Asian champion Udit to be eliminated.
Aman will represent India at the Olympic Qualifiers in 57kg and given the talent he possess, he stands a good chance to succeed.
"Competing against Ravi is always tough but I prepared well for this tournament and worked on my game. I was preparing in Russia for last one month and that has helped me," an ecstatic Aman said after his bout.
India have so far earned only one quota for the Paris Games through Antim Panghal (women's 53kg).
Other wrestlers to win trials were -- Jaideep (74kg), Deepak Punia (86kg), Deepak Nehra (97kg) and Sumit Malik (125kg).
Indian team for the Asian Qualifiers:
57kg Aman Sherawat
65kg Sujeet Kalkal
74kg Jaideep
86kg Deepak Punia
97kg Deepak Nehra
125kg Sumit Malik.
Results of selection trials:
Men's Freestyle:
57kg: 1. Aman (Haryana); 2. Udit (Railways); 3. Shubham (Haryana) and Ravi (Delhi)
61kg: 1. Aakash Dahiya (Services); 2. Nikhil (Delhi); 3. Mangal (Gujarat) and Abhishek Dhaka (UP)
65kg: 1. Sujeet (Haryana); 2. Rohit (Services); 3. Anuj (Goa) and Vishal Kaliraman (Railways)
70kg: 1. Abhimanyu (Delhi); 2. Sharwan (Services); 3. Naveen (Goa) and Ankit (Haryana)
74kg: 1. Jaideep (Haryana); 2. Yash (Railways); 3. Naveen (Services) and Vijay Kumar (Haryana)
79kg: 1. Parvinder (Haryana); 2. Sachin Mor (TRI); 3. Mohit Kumar (Delhi) and Sadashiv (Karnataka)
86kg: 1. Deepak Punia (Services); 2. Sandeep Singh (Punjab); 3. Sanjeet (Services) and Deepak (West Bengal)
92kg: 1. Vinay (Haryana); 2. Praveen Chahar (CGH); 3. Vicky (Services) and Parveen (Haryana)
97kg: 1. Deepak (Services); 2. Vicky (Haryana); 3. Karandeep Singh (Punjab)
125kg: 1. Sumeet (Haryana); 2. Anirudh (Railways); 3. Mahendera (Maharashtra) and Dinesh (Services)
Greco Roman:
55kg: 1. Arun Halakurki (Karnataka); 2. Lalit (Haryana); 3. Sanjeev (MP) and Rohit Yadav (Railways)
60kg: 1. Sumeet (Chandigarh); 2. Pravesh Kumar (Services); 3. Saurabh (UP) and Sunny Kumar (Haryana)
63kg: 1. Umesh (Delhi); 2. Parvin Patil (Mah); 3. Ankit (Delhi) and Vinay (TRI)
67kg: 1. Ashu (Railways); 2. Vinayak Patil (Services); 3. Deepak (Delhi) and Neeraj (Services)
72kg: 1. Ankit Gulia (Services); 2. Sameer (Mah); 3. Ajay Dagar (Haryana)
77kg: 1. Vikash (Railways); 2. Sajjan (Railways); 3. Karan (Gujarat) and Kuldeep Malik (Railways)
82kg: 1. Rohit Dahiya (Railways); 2. Rahul (Services); 3. Lovepreet Singh (Punjab) and Aman Kumar (Haryana)
87kg: 1. Sunil Kumar (Railways); 2. Ajay (Haryana); 3. Ravinder Khatri (Services) and Rohit Bura (MP)
97kg: 1. Nitesh (Railways); 2. Narinder Cheema (Punjab); 3. Sonu (Haryana) and Vijender (Delhi)
130kg: 1. Naveen (Services); 2. Mehar Singh (Gujarat); 3. Sonu (Delhi) and Hardeep (Railways).
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Putin meets Iran's FM Araghchi, says Russia ready to do its best to help bring peace to West Asia
Moscow (PTI): Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi on Monday met Russian President Vladimir Putin, who hailed the Iranian people for fighting bravely and heroically for their sovereignty and said Moscow is ready to do its best to help bring peace to West Asia as soon as possible.
Araghchi, who held talks with Omani and Pakistani leadership before arriving in Russia, met Putin in St. Petersburg and thanked him for supporting Iran, state-owned TASS news agency reported.
"Russia is ready to do everything in its power to ensure that peace in the Middle East is achieved as soon as possible," Putin said during his meeting with Araghchi, which was also attended by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.
Revealing that he received a message from Iranian Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei last week, Putin asked Araghchi to convey his "gratitude for this message and best wishes for his health and well-being."
He praised the Iranian people for fighting "bravely and heroically" for their sovereignty, Iran's state-run PRESS TV reported.
"We really hope that, based on the courage and desire for independence, the Iranian people, under the guidance of the new leader, will weather this difficult period of trials and peace will come,” Putin said.
He also stressed that Russia “intends to maintain” its strategic relations with Iran.
Araghchi said that the world witnessed Iran’s strength in countering the US during the recent war, and that the Islamic Republic is a "stable and powerful establishment."
"With their courage, the Iranian people succeeded in resisting the US aggression and will be able to endure it,” he said.
He said that it became clear that Iran has “great friends and allies” like Russia, and conveyed “warmest greetings” from Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei and President Masoud Pezeshkian to the Russian leader.
Araghchi said relations between Moscow and Tehran represent a “strategic partnership at the highest level” and will continue to develop "regardless of circumstances."
"We are grateful to you for the solid and strong positions in support of the Islamic Republic of Iran," he said.
Foreign Minister Lavrov said that the talks between President Putin and the Iranian Foreign Minister were "useful and constructive."
Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov later said that Russia is "ready to provide any good offices, any mediation services that are acceptable to the parties."
"We will be ready to do everything so that ultimately peace ensues, guaranteed peace, and that there is no return to hostilities," Peskov was quoted as saying by TASS.
He was asked how Moscow can assist in future negotiations on the Iranian settlement.
Araghchi arrived in Russia after his whirlwind trip to Islamabad, which, according to him, was “very productive” and involved “good consultations" with Pakistan's Army Chief Field Marshal Asim Munir, amid uncertainty over the second round of peace talks to resolve the war in West Asia.
"We held good consultations with our friends in Pakistan. The trip was successful. We assessed the outcome of our recent (meetings) and discussed in what direction and under what conditions talks can move on,” Araghchi said in a video posted on his Telegram channel upon his arrival in St Petersburg.
Referring to the second round of talks between the US and Iran to resolve the conflict in West Asia, Araghchi said: "Developments have taken place in the negotiations."
"Despite some progress in earlier rounds, the talks failed to reach their objectives due to the Americans' approach, the excessive demands they made, and the wrong approaches they adopted. Therefore, it was necessary to consult with our friends in Pakistan to review the latest situation,” Iran's official news agency IRNA quoted him as saying.
He said that the trip to Pakistan was a good opportunity to review developments related to the US-Israeli war against Iran, expressing confidence that “these consultations and coordination between the two countries will be highly significant.”
Araghchi arrived at St. Petersburg's Pulkovo Airport early Monday, where he was welcomed by Russian officials and Iran’s ambassador to Russia, Kazem Jalali, the report said.
The first round of peace talks between Iran and the US, held on April 11 and 12, failed to bring the desired result for the parties to the conflict.
The Iranian minister arrived in Islamabad for the second time on Sunday after a short visit to Oman, where he held talks with Sultan Haitham bin Tariq al-Said on security in the Strait of Hormuz and diplomatic efforts to end the Iran-US conflict.
After Araghchi left Pakistan for Oman on Saturday, President Donald Trump announced that US negotiators Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner would no longer be going to Islamabad for talks with Iran, contending that Washington held all the cards on the matter.
Trump on Sunday reiterated that the US and Iranian officials can talk by phone for a peace solution to the conflict.
On Tuesday, Trump extended the two-week ceasefire with Iran indefinitely to give Tehran more time to prepare a unified proposal to end the war, just hours before the truce was set to expire.
The war began when the US and Israel jointly attacked Iran on February 28, killing Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and several top commanders. The retaliation by the Islamic Republic extended the war to the entire Gulf region.
