Indian Greco-Roman wrestlers fail to impress on first day of World Olympic Qualifiers in Istanbul – Firstpost

Istanbul: Indian Greco-Roman grapplers failed to impress on the first day of qualifying for the World Olympic Games, losing in the preliminary rounds in all six weight categories in Istanbul on Thursday.

Sumit (60 kg), Ashu (67 kg), Vikas (77 kg), Sunil Kumar (87 kg), Nitesh (97 kg) and Naveen (130 kg) lost their fights, with the focus now shifting to style free.

Sumit lost his first round bout in the 60kg to Romanian opponent Razvan Arnaut on technical superiority 10-0, while in 67kg, Ashu defeated Norwegian rival Haavard Joergensen 5-4, before losing 10- 0 on technical superiority against the Hungarian Krisztina Vancza, seventh. .

In the 77 kg category, Vikas got the better of Italian Riccardo Abbrescia before losing in the pre-quarter-final to Georgian Luri Lomadze 8-0 for technical superiority.

Lomadze took a big lead with an arm throw for two points. He then got behind Vikas to make a four-point throw. Lomadze then made a takedown that ended the match with 25 seconds left in the first period.

In the 87kg category, Sunil Kumar overcame the challenge of Jose Andres Vargas 3-1 before losing to Azerbaijan’s Rafig Huseynov 4-3 in the pre-quarters.

In fact, Olympic bronze medalist Rafig advanced to the quarterfinals by the narrowest of margins, overcoming a 3-1 deficit in the final seconds for an improbable victory.

As time ran out, Rafig got into a body lock position and forced Kumar over the edge to get out. But the Indian was handed a one-point penalty for running away, giving Rafig a 3-3 victory on criteria. An unsuccessful challenge added the final point.

In the 97kg category, Nitesh was eliminated in the qualifying round itself, losing to Poland’s Tadeusz Michalik, who won by pinfall.

Naveen, in the 130 kg category, also lost on points during the qualifying round against Austrian Daniel Gastl.