Yasar Dogu International 2022 | Gyanender wins bronze in Greco-roman 60kg category
At the Yasar Dogu International 2022 ranking series in Istanbul, Indian Greco-Roman wrestler Gyanender earned a bronze medal in the 60kg event. He won his first match, defeating Brazil's Marat Garipov 7-3, but in the semis, though, he was defeated 5-0 by Turkish wrestler Ekrem Ozturk.
Gyanender competed for the bronze medal against Eldaniz Azizli of Azerbaijan, a 2018 world champion who withdrew midway through the match due to injury. At the moment, Gyanender was up 2-0. Hardeep Singh, a Rio 2016 Olympian, was the other Indian wrestler to win a bout on the first day of the Istanbul competition.
Fernando Alves De Queiroz 4-1, but was defeated 8-0 by Finland's Arvi Martin Savolainen, a previous junior world champion and Olympian. Hardeep was forced to compete in the repechage round when the Finnish wrestler advanced to the category final. Hardeep, however, came up short once more, losing 8-1 to Kazakhstan's Islam Umayev.
The remaining four Greco-Roman wrestlers, Sagar (63 kg), Ashu (67 kg), Sunil Kumar (87 kg), and Naveen (130 kg), all lost their first-round fights. Ashu lost a close 2-1 decision to Morten Thoresen of Norway in his first round but advanced to the repechage round, where he was defeated by Kyrgyzstan's Kaly Sulaimanov on technical superiority.
Sagar was defeated by Kazakhstan's Aidos Sultangali by fall, while Sunil Kumar was defeated by Ali Cengiz of Turkey on technical superiority. Meanwhile, Ali Nail Arslan of Turkey beat Naveen 7-1. None of the three made it to the next round of the competition.
On Friday, the last three Greco-Roman wrestlers, Vikas (72kg), Sajan (77kg), and Harpeet Singh (82kg), as well as the women's freestyle wrestlers Mansi (57kg), Sangeeta (62kg), Ritu (68kg), and Gursharanpreet Kaur (76kg), will compete.
Vinesh Phogat (women's 55kg) and Bajrang Punia (men's 65kg), two of India's best freestyle wrestlers, will compete on Saturday and Sunday, respectively.