What a brilliant comeback, you're a fighter: Anurag Thakur hails Ravi Dahiya's performance

Anurag Thakur, the Union Minister for Youth Affairs and Sports, and Kiren Rijiju, the Union Minister for Law and Justice, on Wednesday hailed grappler Ravi Dahiya as he stormed into the finals of the men's freestyle 57kg category in the ongoing Tokyo Olympics.

Dahiya defeated Kazakhstan's Nurislam Sanayev in the semi-finals and he will now contest the finals on Thursday and he is the first to enter the final since Sushil Kumar in 2012.

"What a brilliant comeback Ravi Kumar Dahiya! You're a fighter! You had us on the edge of our seat with your power play! All the best for the final! India is cheering for you," tweeted Thakur.

Taking to Twitter, Rijiju wrote: "One of the finest and most dramatic comeback by Ravi Kumar Dahiya! India is confirmed of another Olympic medal as Ravi is through to the 57kg FINAL in men's #Wrestling at #Tokyo2020 #Cheer4India."

In the first period, Ravi Dahiya managed to take a 2-1 lead and in the second period, the pressure was entirely on Sanayev, but he bounced back strongly and quickly eradicated Dahiya's lead. But Dahiya held his own and won by fall.

Earlier on Wednesday, Ravi Kumar Dahiya had stormed into the semi-finals of the men's freestyle 57kg category. Fourth-seeded Ravi defeated Bulgaria's Georgi Valentinov Vangelov by pure brute strength and agility on Mat A by 14-4.

( With inputs from ANI )