The drought of gold medals has pegged back India at the Asian Games. With the wrestlers set to take centre stage, India will pin hopes on Paris Olympics bronze medallist Aman Sehrawat and in-form Sujeet Kalkal to lead its challenge in men’s freestyle. Both enter the competition with strong credentials in their weight categories.
For Sujeet and Aman, the Asian Games will be another opportunity to translate their form and international experience into a big title.
Sujeet, competing in 65kg, has been one of India’s most consistent wrestlers this year. The World No.2 is on a 15-bout winning streak and has won the U23 World Championships and Senior Asian Championships during that run. Indian men’s freestyle coach Shako Bentinidis believes the 65kg wrestler can be even more effective if he adopts a more attacking approach.
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“He is a very good wrestler. He should be dominating opponents, but he is not attacking too much. He should attack more and he can attack. He has a good defence. Given his talent, he should be dominating,” Bentinidis told HT.
The coach wants Sujeet to trust his attacking game rather than wait for his opponents to make mistakes. Sujeet recently competed in Russia, where Shako said he was very good.
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“In Russia he was beating everyone easily and we need that winning mentality, that kind of confidence to dominate bouts,” he said.
“Even if you give a few points, go for attack. Just don’t wait. Six or seven attacks in a bout is important, not just two or three.”
It is a weight class in which Bajrang Punia won gold at the 2018 Asian Games, beating tough Japanese opponent Daichi Takatani in a high-quality, exciting final.
Sujeet’s rise has been particularly noticeable over the past year. At the World Championships last year, he narrowly lost (5-6) to Iran’s Rahman Amouzadkhali, the Paris Olympics silver medallist who went on to win the world title. The performance gave Sujeet the belief that he could compete with the best, and he has built on it with a series of significant victories since.
However, it will be a tough field in 65kg. Sujeet’s biggest rival will be Japan’s Olympic champion Kotaro Kiyooka, and the two could possibly clash in the semi-finals. Before that, he is expected to meet Iran’s Abbas Ebrahimzadeh in the quarter-finals. In the lower half of the draw, Asian medallist Umidjon Jalolov of Uzbekistan and Ernazar Akmataliev of Kyrgyzstan are also dangerous opponents.
Aman brings the experience of an Olympic medallist to the 57kg. The 21-year-old won bronze at the Paris Games and gold at the international ranking series in Budapest in July. He had been competing in the non-Olympic 61kg category, where he won silver at the Asian Championships earlier this year. He is now back in the 57kg Olympic weight class for the Asian Games.
Bentinidis believes Aman’s counter-attacking ability is one of his biggest strengths but wants him to keep opponents under pressure and avoid giving them room to launch attacks.
“He is a bit slow and should be careful on defence. He needs to keep his opponents under pressure, keep moving up and down on the mat. The moment he gives distance to opponent there is an attack,” the coach said.
“He is a very hardworking and disciplined wrestler and very determined. He has good counter-attacks. He is learning.”
Aman will have a tough opening round as he takes on the winner of the bout between Olympic bronze medallist Gulomjon Abdullaev and Japan’s Yamato Ogawa, the U20 World Championships winner. World champion Han Chong-song of North Korea, Kazakhstan’s Nurdanat Aitanov, Iran’s Ali Momeni and Mongolia’s Davaabandi Munkh-Erdene are all strong opponents, and Aman will have to be at his best in every bout in the 21-wrestler draw.
There was no gold for India in the previous Asian Games with Aman earning bronze and Deepak Punia bagging silver in 86kg. Both will compete in Japan, with Punia moving to 97kg. Sagar Jaglan in 74kg is another wrestler to watch out for.
The men’s freestyle competition will be held on Friday and Saturday.
Men’s freestyle team: Aman Sehrawat (57kg), Sujeet Kalkal (65kg), Sagar Jaglan (74kg), Deepak Punia (97kg), Rajat Ruhal (125kg).