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Ravi Dahiya undergoes knee surgery, out of action for six months
The Tokyo Olympics silver medallist will miss the Asian Games and World Championships, which also doubles up as Paris Olympics qualifier
Tokyo Olympics silver medallist Ravi Dahiya underwent a knee surgery on Thursday that will put him out of action for the rest of this year. Dahiya was diagnosed with ACL and MCL injuries on his right knee in February and he could not recover after rehab. He lost in the selection trials (57kg) for the Asian Games last week, going down to unheralded Aatish Todkar in the qualification round and left the mat in pain.
He will miss the Asian Games and the World Championships, which also doubles up as Paris Olympics qualifier. The surgery was done by Dr Dinshaw Pardiwala in Mumbai. Dahiya had rushed his comeback to prepare for the Asian Games trials. “The doctor said one ligament (ACL) was showing full tear and another (MCL) half tear. He said immediate surgery was needed,” said Dahiya’s mentor Arun Kumar.
“It will take five to six months to come back to the mat depending on how fast he recovers. He will do rehab in Mumbai for the first month and then we will plan the next stage of rehab,” he said. In Dahiya’s absence, Asian Championships gold medallist Aman Sehrawat will compete in the big stage. Sehrawat won the Asian Games trials and is expected to win a worlds berth as well.
Seeking extension
The WFI ad hoc committee has asked for an extension of deadline to submit team entry for the Worlds to be held in Serbia from Sept 16-24. The last date for sending entries is August 15. India has requested UWW for an extension till August 25 after some of the top wrestlers approached WFI.
