Wrestler Sushil Kumar qualifies for London Games

New Delhi, April 27 (IANS) India's Olympic bronze medal-winning wrestler Sushil Kumar qualified Friday for the 2012 London Olympics by taking the gold medal in the 66kg event of the World Qualifying Tournament in Taiyuan, China.

Sushil defeated Georgia's Otar Tushishvilli 3-0 in the final to qualify for what would be his third Olympic appearance. Sushil made his Olympic debut at the Athens Games in 2004 and won the bronze medal in the 2008 Beijing Games.

Sushil got a first round bye and defeated Radley Mang of Palau. In the quarter-finals, he defeated Australia's Jayden Alexander Lawrence to set a semi-final clash against Andriy Kvyatkovskyy of Ukraine.

Sushil defeated Kvyatkovskyy 3-1 in the semi-final to book his place as the top two qualifiers of this meet qualify for the London Games.

Sushil qualified for the Olympics in his third attempt. He failed to defend his World Champions title and also made a second round exit in the Asian Olympic Qualifiers held in Astana, Kazakhstan March 30 to April 1.