Sajan Bhanwala was outclassed by his opponent on a technical aspect and finished the match 3-1. (Image: X)
India’s dissapointing run continued as Sajan was technically outmatched by the likes of Yang Sejin losing the match, 3-1.
WIndia’s greco-roman grappler, Sajan was on the losing end of the opening round of the World Championships when he came up against a technically far superior opponent hailing from South Korea as the disappointing show at the elite competition continued on Thursday.
The 82-kg wrestler stood no chance against Yang Sejin after losing 3-1 and getting himself eliminated from the tournament going up against an opponent ranked one place below the Indian at No 18 in the world.
Indians have had a torrid time at the Worlds with not a single free-style wrestler in the men’s section making it to the medals round.
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In the women’s section, Antim Panghal (53kg) has a chance to win a bronze medal and secure a spot for the Paris Olympics later on Thursday.
Gurpreet Singh, the 77kg grappler, after getting a direct entry into the pre-quarterfinal lost his bout to world No.1 Levai Zoltan of Hungary in just one minute 12 seconds.
Zoltan, the 2022 World Championships silver medalist in Belgrade last year, achieved a victory by fall.
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However, Gurpreet can still make it to the bronze medal round through the repechage route if Zoltan goes all the way to the final.
Mehar Singh, the 130kg greco-roman wrestler, too lost in the qualification round to be eliminated from the competition. The 27th seeded Indian lost to 28th ranked David Ovasapyan of Armenia on technical points 0-8 in just 39 seconds.
The Indians are competing under the United World Wrestling flag as the Wrestling Federation of India has been suspended by the international federation.
(This story has not been edited by News18 staff and is published from a syndicated news agency feed – PTI)
