<p> Istanbul: Deepak Punia was eliminated from the Paris Olympic Games qualification race following his crushing first-round defeat but young Aman Sehrawat and Sujeet Kalkal got closer to securing quotas by reaching the semifinals at the World Qualifiers, here Saturday.</p>.<p>No Indian male wrestler has yet qualified for the Games and this is the last chance to secure berths.</p>.<p> Aman, the U23 world champion and also the senior Asian Championship title winner, was expected to put up a strong show and the 20-year-old did not disappoint.</p>.<p> He logged points comfortably in both his bouts, winning 10-4 against Georgi Valentinov Vangelov before overpowering Ukraine's Andrii Yatsenko.</p>.<p> Yatsenko was quick but Aman proved too strong for him. Locked several times in arm-locks, Aman found ways to attack his rival's right leg and converted them into take down moves. He won by technical superiority, without conceding a single point against the Ukrainian.</p>.<p> He will now fight it out with North Korea's Chongsong Han.</p>.<p> Punia (86kg), who had missed a bronze medal at the Tokyo Games by a whisker, bumped into a very powerful Zushen Lin from China in his first bout and ended up losing 4-6 despite taking the lead.</p>.<p> Punia, the most experienced wrestler in the Indian squad, was quick with his attack in the first period, which he ended with a 3-0 cushion.</p>.<p> However, the Chinese turned the tables on the Indian, beginning with a double-leg attack which he converted into a takedown move for two points. He rolled Punia to make it 4-3.</p>.<p> Running out of time, Punia was quick with his moves and looked for a two-pointer near the edge of the circle but the referee awarded a push-out point. The Chinese was still ahead on criteria. He ended Punia hopes with another takedown.</p>.<p> The Chinese later lost his quarterfinal, closing the repechage route for the Indian.</p>.<p> Sujeet, who competes in a category which the celebrated Bajrang Punia had made his own, expectedly put up a fighting show, winning 3-2 against Uzbekistan's Umidjon Jalolov and followed that up with a technical superiority victory against Korea's Junsik Yun.</p>.<p> Tougher test awaits Sujeet in his category as he takes the mat against Mongolia's formidable Tulga Tumur-Ochir, the Asian Games champion and Asian Championship silver medallist.</p>.<p> In the 74kg weight class, Jaideep Ahlawat pulled off a stunning four-pointer double-leg attack after trailing 1-3 to win 5-3 against Moldova's Vasile Diacon and move into the pre-quarterfinals.</p>.<p> He also won his next bout by technical superiority against Austria's Simon Marchl but lost his quarterfinal tamely 0-3 to Slovakia's Taimuraz Salkazanov. He remains in contention though. If the Slovakian reaches the final, Jaideep will get a chance via the repechage route.</p>.<p> Earlier during the day, Deepak (97kg) and seasoned Sumit Malik (125kg) lost their first-round bouts. PTI AT AT PDS PDS</p>
<p> Istanbul: Deepak Punia was eliminated from the Paris Olympic Games qualification race following his crushing first-round defeat but young Aman Sehrawat and Sujeet Kalkal got closer to securing quotas by reaching the semifinals at the World Qualifiers, here Saturday.</p>.<p>No Indian male wrestler has yet qualified for the Games and this is the last chance to secure berths.</p>.<p> Aman, the U23 world champion and also the senior Asian Championship title winner, was expected to put up a strong show and the 20-year-old did not disappoint.</p>.<p> He logged points comfortably in both his bouts, winning 10-4 against Georgi Valentinov Vangelov before overpowering Ukraine's Andrii Yatsenko.</p>.<p> Yatsenko was quick but Aman proved too strong for him. Locked several times in arm-locks, Aman found ways to attack his rival's right leg and converted them into take down moves. He won by technical superiority, without conceding a single point against the Ukrainian.</p>.<p> He will now fight it out with North Korea's Chongsong Han.</p>.<p> Punia (86kg), who had missed a bronze medal at the Tokyo Games by a whisker, bumped into a very powerful Zushen Lin from China in his first bout and ended up losing 4-6 despite taking the lead.</p>.<p> Punia, the most experienced wrestler in the Indian squad, was quick with his attack in the first period, which he ended with a 3-0 cushion.</p>.<p> However, the Chinese turned the tables on the Indian, beginning with a double-leg attack which he converted into a takedown move for two points. He rolled Punia to make it 4-3.</p>.<p> Running out of time, Punia was quick with his moves and looked for a two-pointer near the edge of the circle but the referee awarded a push-out point. The Chinese was still ahead on criteria. He ended Punia hopes with another takedown.</p>.<p> The Chinese later lost his quarterfinal, closing the repechage route for the Indian.</p>.<p> Sujeet, who competes in a category which the celebrated Bajrang Punia had made his own, expectedly put up a fighting show, winning 3-2 against Uzbekistan's Umidjon Jalolov and followed that up with a technical superiority victory against Korea's Junsik Yun.</p>.<p> Tougher test awaits Sujeet in his category as he takes the mat against Mongolia's formidable Tulga Tumur-Ochir, the Asian Games champion and Asian Championship silver medallist.</p>.<p> In the 74kg weight class, Jaideep Ahlawat pulled off a stunning four-pointer double-leg attack after trailing 1-3 to win 5-3 against Moldova's Vasile Diacon and move into the pre-quarterfinals.</p>.<p> He also won his next bout by technical superiority against Austria's Simon Marchl but lost his quarterfinal tamely 0-3 to Slovakia's Taimuraz Salkazanov. He remains in contention though. If the Slovakian reaches the final, Jaideep will get a chance via the repechage route.</p>.<p> Earlier during the day, Deepak (97kg) and seasoned Sumit Malik (125kg) lost their first-round bouts. PTI AT AT PDS PDS</p>