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Individual Wrestling World Cup: India end their campaign with a single medal
The last two Indian grapplers standing at the Individual Wrestling World Cup, Deepak Punia and Gourav Baliyan fell to contrasting defeats against Piotr Ianulov and Mahamedkhabib Kadzimahamedau respectively in their bronze medal during the final day of the tournament on Friday.
Competing in the 86kg category, Punia went down 4-1 in a closely fought battle against the Moldovan Piotr Ianulov. The bout was largely passive with none of the wrestlers showing any intention of taking the aggressive route.
Ianulov was leading the bout 2-1 in the dying seconds of the game, thanks to one passivity point against Punia and the other point he scored when the passivity was against him. Punia’s one point in the game too came through a passivity judged against the Moldovan.
In a bid to force something in the match, Punia went for a double-leg attack with seconds remaining on the clock which not only proved to be highly ineffective but also helped Ianulov counter-attack and gain two points to clinch the bronze medal with 4-1 scoreline.
86kg #WrestleBelgrade FS Medal Match Results:
🥇Dauren KURUGLIEV 🇷🇺df. Zbigniew BARANOWSKI 🇵🇱, 5-1
🥉Osman GOCEN 🇹🇷 df. Taimuraz FRIEV 🇪🇸, 11-8
🥉Piotr IANULOV 🇲🇩 df. Deepak PUNIA 🇮🇳, 4-1
— United World Wrestling (@wrestling) December 18, 2020
On the other hand, the nineteen year old Gourav Baliyan was of no match to the Belarusian Mahamedkhabib Kadzimahamedau as he fell to an embarrassing 14-1 defeat on technical superiority in their 79kg bronze medal bout.
Competing only in his second international meet, the inexperience of the Indian was on full display as he looked completely at sea against the Belarusian to return home without any medal.
79kg #WrestleBelgrade FS Medal Match Results:
🥇Akhmed USMANOV 🇷🇺 df. Muhammet KOTANOGLU 🇹🇷, 11-0
🥉Akhsarbek GULAEV 🇸🇰 df. Vasyl MYKHAILOV 🇺🇦, 4-1
🥉Mahamedkhabib KADZIMAHAMEDAU 🇧🇾 df. Baliyan GOURAV🇮🇳, 14-1
— United World Wrestling (@wrestling) December 18, 2020
The defeats of both Punia and Gourav means that India, despite sending a 24 member contingent to Belgrade could manage only a single medal in what has been a highly disappointing tournament for them.
India’s only medal came in the form of the nineteen year old Anshu Malik who clinched a silver in women’s 57kg category.
Read Also: Individual Wrestling World Cup: Anshu Malik settles for silver
