Greco-Roman wrestler Vijay added a silver medal to India’s tally on the third day of the ongoing Junior World Championships in Trnava, Slovakia on Wednesday. After putting up an impressive show on Tuesday to reach the final of 60kg weight category, Vijay could not repeat his performance on Wednesday and lost to defending world champion Kerem Kamal of Turkey in the final.
India ended their Greco-Roman campaign with two silver and a bronze medal, which make their best result at the Junior Worlds. India finished fifth in overall team rankings, which was headed by Iran and the second place went to Russia. Armenia were third and Turkey went past India to finish fourth in the table.
Vijay was dominated throughout the tournament as his three wins before the loss in the final included two via technical superiority (point difference of eight or more) and a pin in the semi-final. He lost the final against Kamal 0-10.
Wednesday was also the first day of the women’s wrestling but India failed to place a single wrestler in the finals. Former cadet world and Asian champion Anshu was India’s best bet but she lost to 2017 Senior Asian champion Sae Nanjo of Japan in the 59kg semi-finals.
Anshu will now wrestle for bronze on Thursday. Anju was pulled back in repechage after her opponent in quarters reached the final in the 55kg weight category.
The 19-year-old showed why she is regarded as India’s most promising upcoming wrestler as she notched up dominant wins against Sule Kabak of Turkey (10-0) and Andribeth Belliard of Puerto Rico (6-0). But Nanjo was too quick for her and she could not match the Japanese wrestler’s class on the mat, losing by technical superiority.
India’s three other wrestlers in women’s wrestling, Shivani Pawar, Sonika Hooda and Nisha, were out of the competition after losing their bouts. None of the opponents they lost to could reach their respective finals, ending the campaign for the three Indian wrestlers.
