Indian wrestler Ravi Kumar Dahiya on Wednesday was bitten by his opponent Nurislam Sanayev during the semifinal of the men’s freestyle 57kg wrestling event at the Tokyo Olympics. He endured a painful bite on his biceps during the match, a support staff member of the team told news agency PTI. The staff member also said the wrestler was perfectly fine and raring to go.

After Ravi Kumar scripted one of the greatest comebacks on the mat, the pictures revealed the deep bite mark on his right bicep.

“It was paining when Ravi returned from the mat but he was given an ice-pack and he is fine. The pain has subsided. He is fit for final, no problem at all,” a member of the Indian wrestling team’s support staff told PTI.

Dahiya was trailing 2-9 against Nurislam Sanayev. He then fought back to win the match by fall.

The rules for wrestling are framed by the world governing body UWW. The chapter Prohibition and Illegal Holds article 48 states that wrestlers are forbidden to pull the hair, ears, genitals, pinch the skin, bite, twist fingers or toes of their opponents.

The wrestlers are barred to perform actions, gestures or holds with the intention of torturing the opponent or making him suffer to force him to withdraw.

And if found guilty, the wrestlers can be penalised.

“These general prohibitions are sanctioned based on the severity of the foul (disqualification, caution-1 (2) point or verbal warning),” states the rule.

“Disciplinary sanctions might also be applied after the competition against the athlete at fault.”

On Wednesday, Dahiya became only the second Indian wrestler to qualify for the title clash at the Olympic Games. The only other Indian to achieve the feat is Sushil Kumar, who won the silver medal at the 2012 London Olympics.

In 2012, Kumar had also been accused of biting the ear of his Kazakhstan opponent Akhzurek Tanatrov during the semifinal. The videos had suggested that Sushil, who was trailing 0-3 in that bout, may have bit the ear of Tanatrov, who showed the referee the blood on his ear but did not appeal against that.

Sushil went on to make the final, which he lost to settle for a silver medal.