 "Mukul Dahiya is the only medal hope left for India in the World Championships. Image: Insta/Dahiya")
Zagreb (Croatia): Indian wrestlers endured a disappointing start to their campaign at the World Championships with all four grapplers bowing out on the opening day of competition, here Saturday.
In the men’s 61kg freestyle, Udit lost tamely to Taiyrbek Uulu of Kyrgyzstan, failing to open his account in a 0-2 defeat.
Competing in the 70kg division, Rohit went down narrowly 4-5 to Begijon Kuldashev of Uzbekistan despite putting up a spirited show.
His hopes of a repechage entry ended after the Uzbek wrestler crashed out in the next round.
In 86kg, Mukul Dahiya was outclassed 0-10 by American star Zahid Valencia, who advanced comfortably to the quarterfinals.
Dahiya remains the only Indian with a possible repechage chance, dependent on Valencia’s progress to the gold medal bout. Valencia has already reached the semifinals.
In the heavyweight 125kg category, Rajat Ruhal was beaten 2-5 by Vlagyiszlav Balcajev of Hungary. Although Ruhal managed a takedown, he could not sustain the momentum and conceded points on counter-attacks.
With Udit, Rohit and Ruhal eliminated, India’s only medal hopes from the opening day rest on Dahiya’s repechage chances.