Nisha Dahiya’s World Wrestling Championships campaign ended in heartbreak on Thursday after she lost the women’s 68kg bronze medal bout to Canada’s Linda Morais.

Nisha took the lead with a four-point takedown of the 2019 59kg World Champion. However, the 2022 Commonwealth Games silver medal-winning Canadian slammed Nisha to the ground to claim victory via fall and the World Championship bronze.

Nisha also seemed to injure her right knee in the move which led to her loss as she yelled out in pain before the referee ended the bout in Morais’ favour. The Indian was in tears after losing out on a deserved bronze.

The 24-year-old had come into the bronze medal match after losing a closely-fought bout 5-4 to Japan’s Ami Ishii in the semifinal.

The men’s freestyle events also began on Thursday with four Indians in the fray in the 70kg, 79kg, 86kg and 125kg events. However, only Naveen Malik in the 70kg event, ended the day still in medal contention.

Malik will compete for a bronze medal after he qualified for the repechage after his round of 16 opponent, Taishi Narikuni, reached the final.

Having won their respective first bouts, Dinesh Dhankar (125kg) and Deepak Mirka (79kg) lost in the round of 16.

Sanjeet, who replaced the injured 2019 World Championship silver medallist Deepak Punia in the 86kg event, lost in the qualifying round.