Deepak Punia to face idol Hasan Yazdani in Asian Games final, Indian wrestlers win six medals
Yash Tunir, Vicky and Sumit Malik eliminated in early rounds
In the men's freestyle 86kg category, Indian wrestler Deepak Punia qualified for a dream Asian Games final against his idol, the famous Iranian Hasan Yazdani, but three of his countrymen were eliminated from the competition after suffering early losses on Saturday.
In his tense 3-2 victory over Bahrain's Magomed Sharipov in the qualification round, Deepak was tense, but he continued to improve with each match.
He defeated Indonesian Randa Riandesta, as was to be expected, by virtue of technical dominance, and defeated Japan's Shirai Shota 7-3 in the quarterfinals.
He faced off against Javrail Shapiev of Uzbekistan in the round of 16, but he won 4-3.
Deepak is facing Yazdani, a two-time Olympic medalist and eight-time World Championship medalist, for the second time.
Deepak reached the final of the 2019 World Championship in Nur Sultan on his first attempt, but was had to forfeit the match against the Iranian due to a foot injury and settle for silver.
Vicky (97 kg), Sumit Malik (125 kg), and Yash Tunir (74 kg) were eliminated from the Asian Games before the medal round.
After defeating Chheang Chhoeun of Cambodia in his pre-quarterfinal, Yash lost to Magomet Evloev of Tajikistan by technical superiority.
Vicky left after losing to Alisher Yergali of Kazakhstan, and Sumit Malik left after losing to Aiaal Lazarev of Kyrgyzstan by technical superiority.
The Indian wrestling team will return home empty-handed after winning only six medals.
India took home three medals from the 2018 competition, including two gold ones thanks to Bajrang Punia and Vinesh Phogat.
Vinesh did not play this year owing to a knee injury, while Bajrang was eliminated in embarrassing fashion on Friday.
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