Wrestling World Championships 2022: India begin with losses in all bouts on Day 1

With 30 Indian grapplers in the fray, the World Wrestling Championships 2022 kicked off in Belgrade, Serbia on September 10 and will continue till September 18.

However, it was a disappointing start to the campaign with all four Greco-Roman wrestlers failing to cross the initial hurdle and losing in their respective opening rounds itself.

Asian Champion Sunil Kumar (87kg) went up against former U-23 European silver medallist Ali Cengiz of Turkey in the qualifying round and lost to him with a score of VPO1, 1-1. The bout ended in a tie but the Turkish grappler won the match as he landed the last point.

Arjun Halakurki (55kg), the Asian Championships bronze medallist had a lead against 2-time Pan-American champion Max Emiliano Nowry of USA 3-0 by the end of the first round but Nowry made a last-minute comeback by defeating Arjun with a Win By Fall (VFA), 5-3.

Meanwhile, Vikas, a 2017 Commonwealth Wrestling Championships silver medallist suffered a harsh defeat against former European champion Shmagi Bolkvadze in the 73kg category, losing 2-1.

Sachin, taking part in the 77kg category, lost rather haplessly 8-0 to former World Championships silver medallist Aram Vardanyan in the opening round.

On Saturday, Asian Championships silver medallist grappler Harpreet Singh (86kg), Neeraj (63kg), Ashu (67kg) and Deepanshu (97kg) will feature in action.

After a great run at the Commonwealth Games, India is looking to expand its medal tally from this edition of the World Wrestling Championships with Bajrang Punia, Ravi Dahiya and Vinesh Phogat headlining India's charge here.