Seema Bisla becomes fourth Indian female wrestler to qualify for Tokyo Olympics

Sofia (Bulgaria), May 7: After Sumit Malik, Seema Bisla became the eighth Indian wrestler and fourth female Indian wrestler to qualify for the Tokyo Games by reaching the final of the 50kg competition. It will be the first time that four Indian women wrestlers will compete in the Olympics.

 

 

 

In a very neck-to-neck competition, Seema booked an Olympic berth for herself after a 2-1 win over European Championship bronze medallist Anna Lukasiak of Poland. In this match, what went right was that she showed tremendous defensive skills in the semifinal.

 

 

 

Earlier, she gave away a point on passivity but Seema pulled off a quick takedown in the first period for a 2-1 lead, which she kept till the end to earn the quota. She will now fight for gold against Ecuador’s Lucia Yamileth Yepez Guzman on Saturday.

 

 

The 29-year-old is the fourth Indian to qualify for the Games after celebrated Vinesh Phogat (53kg), Anshu Malik (57kg) and Sonam Malik (62kg). It will be first time that four Indian women wrestlers will compete in the Olympics. In the 2016 edition, three Indian women wrestlers had competed.

 

 

Earlier in the day, Seema, who won a bronze at the recent Asian Championship in Almaty, was solid in her defence against Belarus’ Anastasiya Yanotava and logged four points in each of the periods to win her pre-quarterfinal 8-0.

 

The Indian was more dominant against Sweden’s Emma Jonna Denise Malmgren whom she pinned with 43 seconds to spare to win the bout. eema used her power better and stayed aggressive. She was leading 10-2 when she found a way to pin her rival. On the other hand, Sumit Malik settled for a silver medal after conceding his final bout due to a knee injury at the World Olympic Qualifiers.