Dishing out impressive performances, India`s young wrestlers Anshu Malik and Sonam Malik qualifed for the Tokyo Games by winning silver medals at the Asian Olympic Qualifiers here on Saturday. Anshu, 19, and Sonam, 18, making a steady transition from the junior to the senior circuit, joined senior pro Vinesh Phogat (53kg) in making the Olympics cut. India now have three women wrestlers, who will now fight for glory at the Summer Games. Vinesh had qualified through the 2019 World Championship. Overall, India now have seven wrestlers who have qualified for the upcoming Games.

Among men, Bajrang Punia (65kg), Ravi Dahiya (57kg) and Deepak Punia (86kg) have qualified in the men`s free style event. While Anshu was dominant in 57kg competition, Sonam`s resilience eventually helped her secure the quota and shut the door on Rio Olympic medallist Sakshi Malik. Sonam announced her arrival by defeating Sakshi four times in recent trials, making the 62kg category her own. Such was Anshu`s dominance that she conceded only two points en route the final, winning all her three bouts by technical superiority. She began by beating Korean Jieun Um, then outsmarted Kazak wrestler Emma Tissina and in the semifinal she beat Uzbekistan`s Shokhida Akhmedova. She lost the gold medal bout 4-7 to Mongolia`s Khongorzul Boldsaikhan while Sonam did not compete in the final due to an injury.