New Delhi, Oct 30 (IANS) Jyoti (50kg) made a fantastic start to her medal hunt by storming into the semi-finals of the UWW Under-23 World Championships 2019 on Wednesday. With a 6-1 win over Belarus Tatsiana Yafremenka, the young wrestler made it to the quarters, where she notched up a quickfire 12-2 win over Moldovas Maria Leorda.

Standing between Jyoti and a highly-coveted berth in the final is Japan's Kika Kagata. Jyoti is aiming to be the second Indian to reach the final of this prestigious competition this year, following men's freestyle expert, Ravinder who is in the summit showdown of 61kg.

While Jyoti dazzled on the mat, the rest of the women failed to emulate her. In 55kg, Rani Rana was blanked 0-6 by USA's Dominique Olivia Parrish in the qualifiers while Suman put up a better show in her qualifying bout against China's Yingying Wang, only to go down 4-6.

In 59kg, Pooja Yadav's campaign was cut short by top seed Tiana Grace Kennett, who dealt her a 6-2 blow.

Both Ravinder's final and Jyoti's semi-final will be streamed live on WrestlingTV from 10.30 p.m. IST on Wednesday.

--IANS kk/bg