Individual Wrestling World Cup: Indian Greco-Roman wrestlers disappoint on Day 1

The Individual Wrestling World Cup started on a highly disappointing note for the Indian wrestlers as none of their four Greco-Roman wrestlers made it past the pre-quarterfinal of the tournament on Saturday

The only Indian to make an impact was Ashu in the 67kg category as he registered a clinical win in his first round match against Atakan Yuskel from Turkey before going down against Khalmurat Ibragimov of Kyrgyzstan in the quarterfinal match.

Ashu’s lack of experience came to haunt him badly as Ibragimov wrapped up the match in just 30 seconds winning the bout 8-0 on technical superiority.

Individual World Cup Day 1 Results#कुश्ती #kushti #WrestlingTV #wrestling #wrestlingtvindia #wrestlinglive #wrestling2020 #Dangalkadum💪 pic.twitter.com/6TY1u3GVLJ

— wrestlingtv 🇮🇳 (@wrestlingtvIND) December 12, 2020

Meanwhile, Arjun Halakurki too went down to Kyrgyzstan’s Balbai Dordokov in the quarter final match of the 55kg category despite taking a 5-0 lead in the opening minute of the bout. In an attempt to increase his lead the Asian Wrestling Championship bronze medallist decided to go all-out in an aggressive approach which eventually led to his downfall.

One of India’s best bet in the Greco-Roman category, Sunil Kumar too failed to put a fight as he lost to Fabio Parisi owing to technical superiority in the 87kg category. In a bout which lasted just 55 seconds, the Asian Champion was of no match to the Italian who wrapped up the bout 10-0.

Sajan too faced a similar fate in the 77kg category as Pavel Liakh of Belarus ran over him to win the bout 9-0 on technical superiority.

If Sunil Kumar and Sajan lost on technical superiority, it was a completely different heartbreak for Aditya Kundu who had to forfeit his first round bout after failing to meet the weight criteria.

Read also: Individual Wrestling World Cup: Indian squad, schedule, timings, when and where to watch