World Wrestling Championship round up | India starts on the wrong foot as four Greco-Roman grapplers crash out in the round of 32

08/22/2017

Yogesh, Gurpreet Singh, Ravindar Khatri and Hardeep Singh, were all eliminated in the first round of the Greco-Roman category on Day one in Paris. Things got worse for the Indian wrestlers as none of them got a repechage because all their opponents failed to progress in the subsequent rounds.

Yogesh was competing in the round of 32 from the 71-kilogram category against Japan’s Takeshi Izumi where he lost 1-3. In the 75-kilogram category, Gurpreet Singh was eliminated by Georgia’s Mindia Tsulukidze 1-5 in the same round.

The most humiliating defeat was seen by Ravindar Khatri in the 85-kg category as he was outclassed 0-8 by Hungary’s Viktor Lorinca. Hardeep Singh, the Silver medalist at the Asian Championships in Bangkok last year, lost with the most respectable margin among all his compatriots, as Lithuania’s Vilius Laurinaitis defeated him 2-5.

India have never really excelled in the Greco-Roman category that prohibits the grapplers to hold beyond opponent’s waist, but fans hardly saw a fight by the wrestlers. There are still Gyanendra (59kg), Ravinder (66kg), Harpreet Singh (80kg), and Naveen (130kg) to take part in this category next and fans would be hoping for a positive result.

However, the real expectation lies on the bronze-medalist from Rio Olympics, Sakshi Malik, who will compete in the 60-kilogram category on Thursday.