Male wrestlers draw a blank, women’s struggles continue at World Championships

Indian men faded on the sport’s most competitive global stage at the World Championships in Croatia’s Zagreb. Eight of the 10 participating male wrestlers failed to reach the bronze bout, while Paris Olympics medallist Aman Sehrawat suffered an embarrassing exit after being found overweight. Except for Sujeet Kalkal, who showed a notable performance in the 65kg before losing in the quarterfinals, and Mukul Dahiya’s fifth-place finish after his defeat in the 86kg bronze medal match, the others were unable to compete against their opponents. On Tuesday, Sujeet and Vicky (97kg) had opportunities to secure bronze through the repechage round but were eliminated in their initial matches. Sujeet lost 5-7 to USA’s Ray Woods after leading in the first period. Vicky was outmanoeuvred by Bulgaria’s Akhmed Magamaev, who achieved a ‘by fall’ victory. The women’s contingent has similarly struggled. On Day 4 of the competition, Ankush lost her qualification bout 5-6 to UWW’s Natallia Varakina in the 50kg, while Tapasya Gahlawat lost 2-4 to Mexico’s Bertha Rojas Chavez in the 57kg. Varakina and Chavez’s losses in the round-of-16 eliminated the Indian women from repechage contention. However, Vaishnavi Patil (65kg) and Priya Malik (76kg) still have a chance to vie for bronze medals after their opponents reached the semifinals. If they advance to the title bouts, it will allow the Indians to enter repechage. In a historic moment at the Worlds, Aylah Mayali became the first Palestinian woman to participate in the event. She faced Moldovan Irina Ringaci, who dominated the match.