World Wrestling Championships 2022: Indian team's results

The tournament was one to forget for the Indian wrestlers who collectively won only two medals.

The 2022 World Wrestling Championships took place in Belgrade, Serbia. This was the 17th edition of the tournament which hosts the best wrestlers from across the globe. There are three main categories where the wrestlers participate in different weight categories. The competition was intense whether it was in Freestyle, Women’s Wrestling or Greco-Roman categories.

The Indian contingent was not impressive at the 2022 World Wrestling Championships. It returned from the tournament with only two bronze medals. Last year, India had two medals and one of them was a silver. The expectations were high following a sensational performance by the wrestlers at the 2022 Commonwealth Games, but the level of competition was at a much higher level at the World Championships.

Here is a performance review of the Indian wrestlers at the 2022 World Wrestling Championships:

Freestyle

There were a lot of expectations from the Indian male wrestlers in the freestyle category but they did not live up to them. Bajrang Punia was the sole medal winner in Freestyle, returning to India with a bronze from Belgrade. Naveen Malik and Sagar Jaglan both lost their bronze medal bouts, thus missing the podium by a whisker.

Former World Championships bronze medal winner Ravi Kumar Dahiya was a major disappointment, as the Olympic silver medallist was eliminated in the Round of 16 by Uzbekistan’s Gulomjon Abdullaev by technical superiority. He was unable to carry his form after winning gold at the 2022 Birmingham Commonwealth Games.

Here are the results of the Indian wrestlers from the Men’s Freestyle category at the 2022 World Wrestling Championships: 

57kg: Ravi Kumar Dahiya - Round of 16

61kg: Pankaj Malik - Round of 32

65kg: Bajrang Punia - Bronze medal winner

70kg: Naveen Malik - Lost bronze medal bout

74kg: Sagar Jaglan - Lost bronze medal bout

79kg: Deepak Mirka - Round of 16

86kg: Sanjeet Kundu - Round of 32

92kg: Vicky Hooda - Round of 32

97kg: Vicky Chahar - Round of 32

125kg: Dinesh Dhankar - Round of 16

Women’s Wrestling

Indian women wrestlers were underwhelming as a collective unit as only Vinesh Phogat is returning with a bronze medal around her neck. The Indian wrestling icon secures a second bronze at the world championships which makes her the only Indian woman wrestler to win multiple medals at the World Wrestling Championships. She lost her first-round bout in a tricky clash and then had a walkover in repechage Round 2 which certainly aided in her podium finish. 

Sarita Mor had a lot of expectations on her shoulders but she comes home empty-handed. She won a bronze at the 2021 World Wrestling Championships and fans were hoping she would replicate her performance at the least. Nisha Dahiya lost her bronze medal bout to Linda Morais of Canada by fall and had to return home without a medal as well.  

Here are the results of the Indian women wrestlers from various weight categories:

50kg: Neelam Sirohi - Round of 16

53kg: Vinesh Phogat - Bronze medal winner

55kg: Sushma Shokeen - Repechage Round 2

57kg: Sarita Mor - Round of 16

59kg: Mansi Ahlawat  - Quarterfinals

62kg: Sonam Malik - Round of 16

68kg: Nisha Dahiya - Lost bronze medal bout

72kg: Reetika - Round of 16

76kg: Priyanka - Round of 32

Greco-Roman

India did not have a strong representation in the Greco-Roman format at the 2022 World Wrestling Championships. As it happens, no Indian male wrestler was able to secure a medal in this difficult category or even reach a medal bout for that matter. Here is a look at the results of the Indian contingent in various different categories:

55kg: Arjun Halakurki - Round of 16

60kg: Gyanender Dahiya - Round of 16

63kg: Neeraj Chhikara - Round of 16

67kg: Ashu Bazard - Round of 32

72kg: Vikas - Round of 32

77kg: Sachin - Round of 32

82kg: Harpreet Singh Sandhu - Round of 16

87kg: Sunil Kumar - Round of 32

97kg: Deepanshu Ahlawat - Repechage Round 2

130kg: Satish Antil - Round of 32