One of the podium favourites, Ravi Kumar Dahiya went out of medal contention on Friday as India endured a disappointing day at the World Wrestling Championships in Belgrade.
Dahiya, a Tokyo Olympics silver medallist, lost on technical superiority to Uzbekistan’s Gulomjon Abdullaev in the round of 16 in the men’s 57kg event. Dahiya had beaten Abdullaev in their last meeting at the Yasar Dogu tournament when he won 11-10 in the final.
However, the 24-year-old Indian was surprisingly outclassed by the Uzbeki, failing to score a single point. To make matters worse for Dahiya, Abdullaev lost in the next round ending the Indian’s hopes for competing for a bronze medal via the repechage.
In Friday’s only medal match featuring an Indian, Naveen Malik lost to Ernazar Akmataliev of Kyrgyzstan in the 70kg bronze medal bout. The 20-year-old Indian, fresh from winning a Commonwealth Games gold medal in August, gave a good account for himself but lost 4-1 to the 2021 World silver medallist.
Sagar Jaglan, competing in the 74kg event, became active in the repechage and will compete for a bronze on Saturday. Jaglan began his campaign with a stunning comeback win in the round of 32. Down 1-4 to Israel’s Mitchell Finesilver, Jaglan took down his opponent before using the leg lace to win 14 straight points and clinch the bout on technical superiority.
The 18-year-old followed it up with another technical superiority win in the next round to set up a quarterfinal clash against defending champion and Tokyo Olympics bronze medallist Kyle Dake. Dake, as expected, beat Jaglan as he slammed the Indian to the mat inside 40 seconds to get the win via fall. Dake went on to reach the final.
Vicky Hooda, the fourth Indian in action on Friday, lost in the qualification match in the 72kg event.