It wasn’t meant to be for a couple of India’s top wrestlers as Rohit Kumar and Aman Sehrawat rose up to the occasion, eliminating
Bajrang Punia and Ravi Kumar Dahiya from 2024 Paris Olympics
qualification respectively at the selection trials in Sonipat on Sunday.

Much was expected from the two, especially Bajrang, who has been one of the three major wrestlers leading the protests against Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) and its former president Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh. Bajrang lost to Rohit by a 1-9 margin in the men’s 65kg semifinals and did not take defeat well, leaving the stadium in a hurry and refusing to play the bronze medal contest.

Ravi Kumar Dahiya, meanwhile, went down to Aman by a 13-14 margin in the opening bout.

How Bajrang and Ravi were eliminated from Paris Olympics qualification race

Against Rohit, Bajrang Punia was no match for his opponent and hardly seemed as if he was at his best. He managed to beat Ravinder in the opening bout that ended 3-3, but it was a close contest. Bajrang only progressed to the next round via criteria after Ravinder conceded a caution point. Bajrang’s rustiness was prevalent in the semifinal bout against Rohit.

The youngster took a 2-1 lead in the first period, and showcased his attacking prowess to earn four points, and eventually make it 8-1. Bajrang conceded yet another point in the contest to lose it 1-9 and left the stadium in a hurry, not reporting for the bronze medal contest.

Ravi Dahiya, meanwhile, fought tooth and nail before surrendering to Aman. Aman kept attacking as well, initiating blows on Ravi regularly, to take a 13-4 point lead against Ravi. Ravi, however, gained an eight point surge to make it 12-13, but eventually went down fighting.

Who is Rohit Kumar?

Rohit, who defeated Bajrang, had competed in the World Wrestling Championships in 2021 but lost 4-10 to Tömör-Ochiryn Tulga of Mongolia in the bronze medal contest. Rohit had qualified for the medal match round with a 12-2 win over Selahattin Kilicsallayan of Turkey, but was pinned in the fifth minute of the bronze medal contest.

In the same year, Rohit was crowned champion in the 65 kg category of the National Wrestling Championships. However, in 2022, Bajrang Punia got the better of Rohit to seal a spot in the Indian squad for the Asian Championships.

At the wrestling trials on Sunday, Rohit eventually lost to Sujeet Kalakal in the final.

Who is Aman Sehrawat?

A freestyle wrestler from Birohar in Haryana’s Jhajjar district, Aman Sehrawat’s rise towards becoming a professional wrestler has not been easy. He was born on 16 July, 2003. In 2014, both of Aman’s parents passed away due to medical conditions when he was just 11 years old. At the age of 12, Aman joined the Chhatrasal Stadium in New Delhi under the guidance of coach Lalit Kumar and in fact trained with Ravi Kumar Dahiya there.

Fast forward several years, in 2021, at the age of 18, Sehrawat won his first national championship title, winning gold in the 57kg category. In 2022, Aman lost the Commonwealth Games trials to Ravi Dahiya but two years later, Sehrawat’s moment finally arrived as he defeated Ravi Dahiya to advance to the 2024 Paris Olympics qualification. Also in 2022, Aman became the first Indian to clinch gold at the U23 World Wrestling Championships in Spain, beating Ahmet Duman of Turkey 12-4 in the final.

In 2023, Aman’s best was yet to come. He won gold medal at the Asian Wrestling Championships in Astana in April, and would win bronze medal at the 2023 Asian Games in Hangzhou later that year, beating China’s China’s Minghu Liu 11-0 via technical superiority.

Earlier this year, Aman won gold at the 2024 Zagreb Open in Croatia, defeating China’s Zou Wanhao via technical superiority in the final in January.