Seema Bisla clinches gold at the World Wrestling Olympic Qualifiers after securing Tokyo Olympics qualification

Seema Bisla clinches gold at the World Wrestling Olympic Qualifiers after securing Tokyo Olympics qualification

Seema Bisla

Indian wrestler Seema Bisla ended her World Wrestling Olympic Qualifiers in Sofia, Bulgaria with a bang as she clinched the gold medal in the 50 kg category. She had earlier secured a Tokyo Olympics berth yesterday when she reached the final of the event. She was the fourth Indian woman to make her way to the Games and eighth overall Indian wrestlers to make it, equaling India’s previous best of eight representations at the 2016 Rio Games.

In the final, Seema defeated Ecuador’s Lucia Yamileth Yepez Guzman without having to get to the mat to get her hands on the gold medal. Although winning the gold was the paramount achievement, it was her semi-final bout against European Championship bronze medallist Anna Lukasiak that was the most anticipated one as the match was the decider as to whether Seema would make it to the Olympics. The close encounter ended in the Indian’s favour to help her clinch qualification. Further, there was no final that took place with her opponent withdrawing.

Seema Bisla joins Vinesh Phogat, Anshu Malik and Sonam Malik to make it to the Olympics

Seema Bisla
Seema Bisla

With the victory, Seema will now join fellow women wrestlers Vinesh Phogat, Anshu Malik and Sonam Malik at the Tokyo Games later this year. It is noteworthy that this will be the highest representation by Indian women wrestlers at an Olympic Games as the previous best was three at the Rio Games which had five male representations.

FS Video

Meanwhile, at the Greco-Roman event, the Indian wrestlers disappointed as none of them was able to clinch an Olympic spot. Gurpreet Singh who was considered to be one of the favourites to make it fell in the pre-quarter final while the rest could not impress. Ravi Kumar Dahiya, Sumit Malik, Bajrang Punia and Deepak Punia are the ones who have booked an Olympic slot in the men’s categories.

Also Read: Wrestler Sumit Malik qualifies for Tokyo Olympics