Four Indian Wrestlers Suffer Early Defeats at World Championships

India endured a disappointing day at the World Wrestling Championships on Wednesday, with four wrestlers suffering defeats in their respective bouts. Rajnita also exited the medal race, despite putting up a fight in the repechage round.

In the women’s 65kg category, Rajnita lost 2-6 to Japan’s Nana Ikehata in the repechage, with the Japanese wrestler’s experience proving decisive.

The biggest setback came in the 53kg category, where Nishu failed to progress beyond the pre-quarterfinals. After opening her campaign with a victory by fall against Morocco’s Sabah Kaneb, she lost 0-8 to Romania’s Andreea Beatrice Ana, who effectively neutralised her attacks with quick counter-moves.

In the women’s 68kg category, Srishti began confidently with an 8-0 victory over Uzbekistan’s Firuza Esenbaeva. However, she lost 1-5 to Kyrgyzstan’s Meerim Zhumanazarova in the pre-quarterfinals. Zhumanazarova took the lead through a passivity point in the first period before converting Srishti’s single-leg attack into a two-point takedown in the second.

Neha Sangwan suffered a swift defeat in the women’s 62kg category against Russian top seed Amina Tandelova. The Russian wrestler completed the bout in just 76 seconds, using a quick takedown, consecutive gut wrenches and leg-lace rolls to secure victory.

Meanwhile, Tanu Sharma bowed out of the women’s 72kg competition in the qualification round after losing 2-9 to Poland’s Wiktoria Choluj.

India, however, remained in contention for two gold medals later in the day. Kajal Dhochak was scheduled to compete in the women’s 76kg final, while Neelam Sirohi was set to fight for the title in the 50kg category.

The two Indian wrestlers had reached their respective finals on Tuesday, providing a major boost to the country’s campaign at the championships.