World Wrestling Championships 2022: Indian wrestlers stumble on Day 1

It was a disappointing beginning for the Indian contingent on opening day.

Indian wrestlers failed to make a mark on the opening day of the World Wrestling Championships 2022. None of the four competing Indian wrestlers could qualify for the repechage or medal round matches.

Men’s Greco-Roman qualification rounds for 55kg, 72kg, 77kg, and 87kg and its subsequent semi-finals were scheduled on Saturday - 9th September. India had one representative in each of the four categories. However, all of them were knocked out in their respective opening bout itself.

Upsetting run

Arjun Halakurki, World No. 15, was competing in the 55kg category. He was up against USA’s Max Emiliano; ranked ninth in the world. The American won the pre-quarterfinals bout by VFA (5 - 3) with over one minute of play left.

Vikas was leading India’s challenge in the 72kg category. However, he was eliminated in the qualification itself. The 27-year-old Vikas lost the bout to Shmagi Bolkvadze of Georgia. The latter is World No. 17 while the former is ranked 27th in the world. Shmagi won the qualification match by VPO1 (2 - 1).

In the 77kg category, Aram Vardanyan of Uzbekistan proved to be too powerful for India’s Sachin. Aram won the bout against VSU (8 - 0) without breaking a sweat. He collected all eight points in the first three minutes i.e. round one. The second round saw none of the two wrestlers adding any more points.

India’s Sunil Kumar was up against Ali Cengiz of Turkey. Ali, Sunil, World No. 18, was surprised by World No. 31 Ali. The Turkish won the bout by VPO1 (1 - 1), thus upsetting Sunil.

A lot more was expected from the Indians in the fray. The likes of Arjun Halakurki and Sunil Kumar were hopefuls of progressing to the semi-final stage. Arjun and Sunil were among the medallists in the Asian Wrestling Championships 2022. The two also won the Greco-Roman national championship in 2021.

The road ahead

The Greco-Roman wrestling event wasn’t included in the Commonwealth Games 2022. Hence, the Indian wrestlers weren’t competing at the international level for some time now. The Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) conduct trials in August. Although, the main purpose of the trials was to select the squad for the world meet.

India has sent a 30-member squad for the ongoing World Wrestling Championships 2022. 10 Indian wrestlers will be competing in each of three categories; men’s Greco-Roman, men’s freestyle and women’s freestyle.

The World Wrestling Championships 2022 was originally scheduled to be staged by Russia. However, owing to the hosting ban on Russia, the United World Wrestling body shifted the tournament to Belgrade, Serbia. The world meet will conclude on 18th September.

11th September (Sunday) will be the second day of the competition. The repechage and medal round matches for the Greco-Roman 55kg, 72kg, 77kg, and 87kg categories are scheduled. No Indian wrestler will be seen in action in the above four events.

The day will also feature the men’s Greco-Roman qualification rounds for 63kg, 67kg, 82kg, and 97kg categories. Neeraj, Ashu, Harpreet Singh and Deepanshu will take the mat in the increasing order of weight category. All eyes will be on Neeraj who bagged the bronze in the Asian Wrestling Championship 2022.