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Ravinder was the star of Day 2 for India as the country finished the men’s freestyle campaign at the World Junior Wrestling Championships in Ufa, Russia, on a high note. He suffered a 9-3 defeat to twin cadet world champion Rahman Amouzadkhalili of Iran in the 61kg final to settle for silver.
India won a total of six medals – one silver and five bronze – and with it surpassed their tally of three medals at the 2019 Junior Worlds in Tallinn.
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Ravinder had earlier stormed into the final after a dominant win against Armenia’s Levik Mikayelyan. After trailing 0-2 initially, he scored 12 points on the trot to win on technical superiority.
Ravinder's tactical acumen was on full display as he continued affecting point-scoring moves, especially with the double leg attacks. Three consecutive takedowns pushed him into the lead and he consolidated them with one more.
In the pre-quarterfinal against Ivan Hramyka from Belarus earlier in the day, Ravinder’s agility on the mat was the highlight as he won 5-2. Ivan was better in attacking but the Indian wrestler’s stamina helped him overcome the challenge.
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In the quarterfinals, Ravinder took a counter-attacking approach against Brunei's Alibeg Alibegov and won 6-0.
Rahman, on the other hand, led the way with a victory by fall over Fedor Baltuev (RUS) in the 61kg semifinal. He began with an exposure to get two and a stepout to lead 3-0. But Baltuev pulled off a four-pointer and then an exposure to lead 6-3. The Iranian challenged the call but lost.
In the second period, Rahman pressed the Russian towards the danger zone and then picked up four points. Using his trademark whipovers, he managed to get Baltuev in the grip and pinned him with 47 seconds remaining.
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Meanwhile, Yash (74kg), Gourav Baliyan (79kg), Pruthviraj Babasaheb Patil (92kg), Deepak (97kg) and Anirudh (125kg) won bronze.
Junior World Wrestling Championship Men's Freestyle Team standings
Iran won the team title with 176 points. Russia and USA finished second and third respectively.
