Junior World Wrestling Championships: Ravi Malik loses 82kg bronze medal playoff in just 42 seconds

Ufa, Russia: The Indian Greco Roman contingent will return without any medal from the junior world championship as Ravi Malik lost his 82kg bronze medal play-off by technical superiority in just 42 seconds in Ufa, Russia on Sunday. Up against Saba Mamaladze from Georgia, Malik made a move but his rival was quick to respond with a counter-attack. Mamaladze then pulled off a four-pointer to almost seal the issue. Malik was the only Indian Greco Roman wrestler to reach the medal round. He began with a 6-0 win over Estonia’s Robin Uspenski and followed that up with a 18-9 victory over Kyrgyzstan’s Zhenish Humnabekov, who got three cautions in the quarter-final bout. Malik, however, could not do much against Armenia’s Karen Khachatryan in the semi-final, which he lost by technical superiority. Narinder Cheema (97kg) was only the second Indian wrestler who managed to win two bouts and he got the reward by getting back into the competition through the repechage round on Saturday. But he lost his repechage round by technical superiority to Norway’s Marcus Worren to go out of the bronze medal race in Sunday’s morning session. Vikas (72kg) and Deepak (77kg) managed first round wins before losing while Anup (55kg), Vikas (60kg), Anil (63kg), Deepak (67kg), Sonu (87kg) and Parvesh (130kg) all exited after losing their respective first round bouts. India’s men’s free style wrestlers won six medals while the women won five medals and finished third in the team championship.