India’s top wrestler Ravi Dahiya, who is a Tokyo Olympics silver medalist, has made a winning start after a long injury layoff, at the Grand Prix De France Henri Deglane 2024 wrestling tournament in Nice, France. Ravi, who missed the entire 2023 season due to injuries, cliched a bronze medal in the tournament.
He trounced Kairat Amirtayev of Kazakhstan 10-4 in the bronze medal bout, as per a report in Olympics.com. The win did not come easy, as Ravi, at one point was trailing 2-4.
Earlier in the tournament, he had beaten Julien Zinser of Germany in the Rd of 16 (13-2), followed by a win over Zangar Kabylbekov of Kazakhstan in the quarters. In the semis, he lost his bout against Arman Eloyan of France 3-6.
Menawhile, Ravi had last competed in the 2022 World Wrestling Championships. Then in Feb 2023, the wrestler sustained major injuries in his right knee, during a practice session. He further aggravated his injury in July 2023, while competing at the National trials for the Asian Games.
Wrestler Ravi Dahiya makes a solid comeback after long injury layoff in France
With WFI elections done, is it the right time for protesting wrestlers to move on?
Wrestler Vinesh Phogat to return Khel Ratna and Arjuna Awards, pens open letter to PM Modi
The report further suggests that Ravi could now come down to the 57 kg weight category, and might compete in the Asian qualifiers in Kyrgyzstan in April, and also the World Olympic Qualifiers in Turkey in May.