India’s woes persisted on the final day of the wrestling world championships on Saturday in Lutte, Paris, as the last quartet of wrestlers in the freestyle category faltered in the earlier rounds. The Indian contingent went on to end the championships without winning a solitary medal.
Earlier, Bajrang Punia and Parveen Rana started off the day well by winning their respective qualification bouts in the 65 kg and 74 kg categories respectively. Punia defeated German Alexander Semisorow 3-2. Rana also beat his opponent from Kyrgyzstan, Saiakbai Usupov by the same margin. In the 97 kg category, Satyawart Kadian won against Haiming Zhang of China in their qualification bout by a 5-0 margin.
However, Punia and Rana’s exploits came to an end in the pre-quarterfinals. Georgian Zurabi Iakobishvili defeated Punia in their round-of-16 bout, while Azerbaijan grappler Jabrayil Hasanov defeated Rana. Likewise, Kadian’s campaign also ended in the pre-quarterfinals as he was defeated by Armenian wrestler Georgii Ketoev.
Lastly, Anil Kumar Dhankar lost in the qualification bout Akzhurek Tanatarov of Kazakhstan in the 70 kg category.
The wrestlers’ only hope of winning a medal now hinge on their respective opponents making it to the final, which would give them a place via the repechage rounds.
Updates
In the 65 kg category, Punia is through to the repechage rounds following pre-quarter-final opponent Iakobishvili making it to the final. Punia lost in the first repechage round to Turkey’s Mustafa Kaya ending Indian campaign on a disappointing note in Lutte.
In the 74 kg category, Rana is out of contention for the repechage rounds as his pre-quarter-final opponent Hasanov lost his quarter-final bout.
In the 70 kg category, Dhankar also bowed out of the tournament as Tanatarov, his opponent in the qualifying round, lost in the quarter-final.
In the 97 kg category, Kadian is out of repechage contention following Ketoev’s defeat in the semi-final.