Neelam blanked Belarus' Natallia Varakina 6-0 in her pre-quarterfinal bout and advanced to the last four after top seed Russian Elizaveta Smirnova withdrew from the quarterfinals due to an injury. (File/UWW)Neelam Sirohi, 26, stamped her authority in the 50kg semifinal to beat Asian Games bronze medallist, Kazakhstan’s Zeinep Bayanova, 7-3 at the Wrestling World Championships.Neelam blanked Belarus’ Natallia Varakina 6-0 in her pre-quarterfinal bout and advanced to the last four after top seed Russian Elizaveta Smirnova withdrew from the quarterfinals due to an injury.Tomorrow, her only hurdle on the path to make history will be one of the most accomplished 50 kg wrestlers in the world — Japan’s Yui Susaki.The Japanese legend will be eyeing a fifth world title, while Neelam will look to pull off one of the biggest upsets.Before today, Indian women wrestlers reached the final at World Championships only once; in 2021 when Anshu Malik entered the 57kg final.However, on Tuesday in Astana, Kazakhstan, two Indian women wrestlers — Neelam and Kajal Dhochak (76 kg) — stormed into the final.And all of it happened within a space of 15 minutes.Story continues below this ad“It is a historic day for us and before leaving India, I knew that the Indian girls are going to do well this time,” national team coach Virender Dahiya told The Indian Express from Astana.“Neelam is one of the experienced wrestlers. She has been a national champion, so we will expect her tonot make mistakes early in the bout,” Dahiya, who also trains Neelam at his akhada in Najafgarh, said.The coach and wrestler duo have come up with a plan to tackle Susaki, who has just lost once in her international career, at the 2024 Paris Olympics to Vinesh Phogat.Also Read | Kajal to fight Alpyeyeva aiming for India’s first women’s wrestling world title“Because Susaki is a big name, Neelam’s first task is to fight her for 6 minutes. If Neelam pushes her to the brink, there is a good chance that she can score points in the last few seconds,” Dahiya said.Story continues below this adThe plan looks similar to what Vinesh executed during her shock win at the Paris Olympics.Neelam was very close to making it to the Asian Games but lost to young Dipanshi Phogat in the last few seconds during the trials. After that, she worked on her ground defence and counter attack.“In the Asian Games trials, Neelam was leading 6-0 before she gave away the points. So, since then we have worked on her ground defence,” Dahiya explained. “One should be ready to defend if there is a lead. So if you look today, she was strong in the last few minutes against the Kazakh giving her just one takedown,” he said.Susaki’s legend has grown in the wrestling world with just one blemish on her otherwise flawless record. She hasn’t lost once after that defeat in Paris to Vinesh.Story continues below this adCan Neelam do the unthinkable in Astana? Time will tell. But for now, Indian women’s wrestling has witnessed one of its best days.Pritish Raj works with sports team at The Indian Express' and is based out of New Delhi. ... Read More Tags:World Wrestling Championships