Wrestler Seema Bisla qualifies for Tokyo Olympics

Sofia: Indian wrestler Seema Bisla has secured a Tokyo Olympics berth in women’s 50kg after reaching the finals of the World Olympic Qualifier in Bulgaria on Friday.

 Seema becomes the fourth woman and eighth overall wrestler to qualify for the quadrennial event.

With this India equals its previous best qualification of eight wrestlers from the 2016 Olympics SAI took to Twitter to applaud the wrestler, “Many congratulations to wrestler #SeemaBisla as she secures a #Tokyo2020 quota in women’s 50kg at World Olympic Qualifier in Bulgaria. She becomes 4th woman & 8th overall wrestler to qualify. With this India equals its previous best qualification of 8 wrestlers from 2016 Olympics.”

Seema joins the elite company of Ravi Kumar Dahiya (57kg), Sumit Malik, (125kg) Bajrang Punia (65kg) and Deepak Punia (86kg) in men’s freestyle and Vinesh Phogat (53kg), Anshu Malik (57kg) and Sonam Malik (62kg) in women weights for those who have qualified for the Olympics.

 Meanwhile, Indian Table Tennis player Gnanasekaran Sathiyan said that he is hoping to put on a grand show at the Tokyo Olympic Games late this year and is working on different variations.

“We (coach S Raman and himself) are working on bringing more variation and pace to my game. That is one thing I need to work and handle better on the slow and fast balls. We are also trying a lot of variations in the serve and the receiving and bring in more surprise elements there,” he said at a media interaction facilitated by the Sports Authority of India.

Sathiyan also added that despite the lockdown his training with paddler Anirban Ghosh has been beneficial in keeping the momentum going till the Olympics.