Indian wrestler Anshu Malik lost to Belarus’ Iryna Kurachkina in the Women’s freestyle 57 kg 1/8 final event at the Tokyo Olympics on Wednesday. The 19-year-old will need to wait and see if she is in contention via repechage later.

Kurachkina defeated Malik 8-2 to advance to the quarterfinals. The Belarusian, a two-time bronze medalist at the World Wrestling Championships, used her experience against the Olympic debutant. Malik was taken down with one-leg takes as Kurachkina took four points in the first half.

Also read: Tokyo Olympics: Wrestler Deepak Punia reaches men’s freestyle semis

Malik did put up some resistance in the second round and also threw Kurachkina off the mat, registering two points. The 27-year-old Belarusian bagged four more points in the final moments of the match. 

Meanwhile, Ravi Dahiya and Deepak Punia began their Olympics campaigns with technical superiority victories, reaching the men’s freestyle 57kg and 86kg quarterfinals respectively with ease.

The fourth-seeded Dahiya consistently attacked the right leg of Colombia’s Tigreros Urbano and he remained dominant, apart from conceding a take-down in the first period.

Dahiya, the reigning Asian champion, nailed the win with one minute and 10 seconds still remaining in the bout, which was stopped after he raced to a winning 13-2 lead.

Deepak Punia (freestyle 86kg) made the most of an easy draw by getting past Nigeria’s Ekerekeme Agiomor, the African championship bronze medallist.

The Nigerian had the power but Deepak was technically sound and won comfortably. Punia won the next game to move into the semifinals.

Anshu’s chances to come back in the competition will depend on Kurachikina’s progress. If the Belarusian makes the final, Anshu will get a repechage round.