World Wrestling Championships Day 4: Another Disappointing Day for Indian Wrestlers

India continued to struggle at the World Wrestling Championships in Zagreb, as Day 4 brought more setbacks for the national contingent. Indian wrestlers fought hard but fell short of reaching the medal rounds, with several close defeats adding to the disappointment.

In men’s freestyle, Sujeet Kalkal was the top performer for India, though he could not make it past the repechage. He started strongly, defeating Turkey’s Cavit Acar 15-5 and North Korea’s Kwang Jin Kim 9-2. However, in the quarterfinals, he narrowly lost 5-6 to reigning world champion Rahman Amouzad of Iran.

Since Amouzad advanced to the final, Sujeet got a repechage opportunity, but he lost 5-7 to Real Marshall Ray Woods of the USA. He and his team were further disappointed as they felt Woods should have been penalized for passivity during the second round.

Vicky, competing in the 97kg category, also had a chance to fight back through repechage after his earlier loss but could not capitalize. Bulgaria’s Adamovich Magamaev ended his run in the tournament. India’s men’s freestyle wrestlers have yet to open their medal tally in Zagreb.

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Indian women’s wrestlers also fail to progress at World Wrestling Championships

Vaishnavi Patil lost the quarterfinal bout at the World Wrestling Championships

India’s women wrestlers also endured a difficult day on the mat. Tapasya, the U20 World Champion in the 57-kg category, lost a close contest, 2-4, to Bertha Chavez of Mexico, despite showing promise early in the bout. In the 50-kg division, Ankush suffered a narrow 5-6 defeat to Belarus’ Natallia Varakina after conceding late points, which proved decisive in the final seconds.

Vaishnavi Patil, making her senior world championship debut in the 65-kg class, provided a rare win for India by beating Elma Zeidlere of Latvia 3-1 in the opening round. However, she was stopped 2-4 in the quarterfinals by Mongolia’s Enkhjin Tuvshinjargal. She remains in contention for a medal through the repechage if Tuvshinjargal reaches the final.

Priya Malik, India’s 76-kg representative, bowed out early after losing to Genesis Reasco Valdez of Ecuador in her opening bout. Her repechage chances depend on Valdez’s progress to the final.

Day 4 of the World Wrestling Championships ended without any medals for India. However, with some wrestlers still in the repechage bracket, there remains hope of salvaging a podium finish in the coming sessions.