India's wrestlers have made the country proud in the past three Olympics and this time too it won't be any different. This time, all hopes will be pinned on Ravi Dahiya who has stormed into the finals after pinning down Nurislam Sanayev of Kazakhstan in the semifinals with less than a minute left.
Although Dahiya has assured a medal for India after booking a berth in the finals, 1.3 billion people have their hopes pinned on the classy wrestler to win their first gold in the ongoing Tokyo Olympics. Dahiya will now lock horns with Zavur Uguev from the Russian Olympic Committee in the finals of the Men's freestyle 57 kg category. Here's all you need to know about the high-voltage match.
Big Moment
Reaching the Olympic finals certainly has been the biggest moment in Dahiya's career so far and if he wins it will mark the greatest moment of his life. Ravi stormed into the men's freestyle 57kg semi-final with two huge wins in the 1/8 and 1/4 finals, first beating a Colombia wrestler 13-2 and then getting the better of a Bulgarian wrestler 14-4.
However, it was a tough fought semifinal. Dahiya made a stunning comeback against Sanayev of Kazakhstan with less than a minute left. He was down 2-9 but bounced back and did not concede even a single point post that and then pinned down Sanayev in the dying moments to assure a medal for India.
That said, it is expected to be a tough final between Dahiya and Uguev, who defeated Iran's Reza Atri 8-3 in the semifinal. Uguev won gold medals in the 2018 and 2019 World Championships. He also bagged a silver in the 2018 European Championships and settled for a bronze in the 2017 European Championships.
When and Where
Dahiya has assured himself at least a silver medal. Prior to that, the only other Indian wrestler to have won a silver at the Olympics was Sushil Kumar. With this incredible feat, Ravi also became the 5th Indian wrestler overall (after KD Jadhav in 1952, Sushil Kumar in 2008 & 2012, Yogeshwar Dutt in 2012 and Sakshi Malik in 2016) to secure an Olympic medal for India.
The finals will be played on August 5 (Thursday) at 4:20 PM IST on mat B of the Makuhari Messe Hall in Tokyo, Japan.
In the United States, the timings are 6:40 AM (ET) and in the UK at 11:50 AM (GMT).
How to Watch
Sony Sports Network is the Official Broadcaster of the Tokyo Olympics in India. Dahiya vs Uguev's final match will be broadcast Sony Ten 1 SD/HD channels. The coverage will be live on five network channels and 4 languages.
The country's state-run channel Doordarshan will also air the match live.
In the UK, the BBC and Eurosport will broadcast the match at 11:50 AM (GST) on Thursday. The BBC will have free-to-air coverage on its terrestrial channels, while Eurosport is a subscription channel.
How to Watch Online
Dahiya vs Uguev's final match will be live-streamed on Sony LIV. However, users will need a premium subscription to watch the match live. For logging on to watch the match click here.
Users can also watch it on Jio, which will livestream the match on its Jio TV app.
In the UK, TV licence fee-payers can stream the action for free on the BBC website and via the BBC iPlayer app. Eurosport subscribers can stream the action online or via the Eurosport Player app.
In the United States and North America, the match will be livestreamed on NBC's app. Click here.
