Indian wrestlers continue to disappoint at World Wrestling Championships

The country is yet to open its medal tally in the competition.

The Indian wrestling contingent had yet another off-day at the World Wrestling Championships on Tuesday. None of the Indians has been able to deliver so far at the competition being held in the Norwegian capital of Oslo.

It was the turn of the women wrestlers to prove their mettle. Hanny Kumari showed some spark in the 50kg weight category. She began with a 9-2 victory over Miran Cheon of South Korea in the pre-quarterfinal. The 19-year-old's quarter-final bout was a tough test against Nadezhda Sokolova of the Russian Wrestling Federation (RWF). Sokolova took a commanding 6-0 lead in the first 15 seconds and finished the bout off in lightning quick time.

The match lasted for just 35 seconds with the Russian securing a technical superiority (10-0) win over the Indian. A lesson in freestyle wrestling was handed out to Hanny, and hopefully, this will only strengthen her in the coming years.

In the 55 kg bronze medal match, Pinki lost 2-5 to Jenna Burkert of the USA. The Indian wrestler had a great start to the tournament but failed to win a medal for her country. Pinki had defeated South Korea’s Kim Soy-eon 5-0 in the qualification round before notching up a 4-1 win against Kazakhstan’s Aisha Ualishan in the quarter-finals.

Pooja, Bhateri fail to deliver

There were high hopes on Pooja Gehlot to perform well in the World Wrestling Championships. The 24-year-old is probably the biggest talent in the Indian women’s lightweight category. She had underlined her ambitions by bagging a silver medal at the 2019 U-23 World Championships in Budapest.

However, on Tuesday, Pooja faltered on the global stage. She didn't have to play any qualification round but lost her 53kg pre-quarterfinal by technical superiority. Akari Fujinami defeated her by a scoreline of 11-0. The Japanese prodigy is yet to lose a bout in her career.

Bhateri is also another Indian woman grappler who couldn't fulfil expectations. In August 2021, she had announced herself by winning the 65kg silver medal in the Wrestling Junior World Championships. However, transitioning to the senior circuit can often prove to be a difficult task. On Tuesday, she failed to register any point, losing 0-8 to Dinara Kudaeva Salikhova of RWF at the World Wrestling Championship.

Kiran was the final one of those in action in the 76kg weight category. She began with a 6-0 win against South Korea's Kim Cholee but lost the quarterfinal by fall to American Adeline Maria Gray.

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