Indian woman wrestler Neha Sharma went to battle against Anastasia Blayvas of Germany in the bronze medal match at the UWW World Championships, while four other wrestlers failed to impress in Belgrade on Tuesday. Competing in the non-Olympic 55kg category, Neha had made it to the bronze medal round after beating Ukraine’s Mariia Vynnyk 7-4 in the rematch to set up a fight against Anastasia.
But after a close battle, the 19th-ranked Indian lost on technical points to the world No. 16 German.
Compatriots Sarita Mor and Divya Kakran failed to impress at the World Cup and lost their matches in the preliminary rounds.
The Indian contingent here is competing under the banner of United World Wrestling (UWW) as the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) has been suspended by the international organization for not holding its elections within the stipulated time.
Both Sarita (57kg) and Divya (76kg) lost their fights before the quarter-final, while teammates Antim Kundu (65kg) and Neelam (50kg) also met a similar fate on Tuesday.
The four wrestlers’ chances of reaching the bronze medal via the repechage route also evaporated as the opponents they had lost to did not make it to the finals.
The rematch takes effect for wrestlers who lose in the pre-quarterfinals or later. It gives them another chance to revive their fortunes in the competition if the opponent they lost to reaches the final.
Sarita, after beating Venezuela’s Betzabeth Colmenarez 6-1 in the first round, lost to Nigerian Odunayo Adekuoroye 4-6 in the pre-quarterfinals, while Divya, after beating Turkey’s Mehtap Gultekin 7- 5 had defeated, lost. the pre-quarter-final fight against world number 4 Justina Renay after the latter scored more technical points.
However, both Adekuoroye and Justina lost in the quarterfinals, closing the rematch door for Sarita and Divya.
In the 65kg category, Antim Kundu, ranked 17th, caused quite a sensation by beating world number 2 Iva Geric of Croatia 6-0 in the pre-quarter-final. Her Chinese quarter-final opponent Lili recorded a victory in the fall, ending the Indian’s hopes of progressing in the tournament.
Neelam (50kg) also started positively, recording two quick wins – against Kazakhstan’s Maral Tangirbergenova (10-0) and Ukraine’s Oksana Livach (6-4) – but losing to world number 4 Feng Ziqi of China, who suffered a fall won in the quarterfinals.
Feng also lost her semi-final, closing the repechage route for the Indian.
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