After insult,injury for Indian Greco-Roman contingent

Starting off in the first round,Bhim Singh did well to stay in the fight against the Iranian,who was the overwhelming favourite. Bhim was within seconds of winning the round and stretching the contest when he was given the advantageous hold by the referee. Instead,the Iranian bagged the point as the Sonepat grappler failed to make it count. Bhim Singh never got a look in from there on,losing the tie 1-0 and 8-0 to bow out.

‘Unlucky’

“We were unlucky with the draw in most weight divisions. But we have to be realistic too,the Iranian was far superior to Bhim. In fact,we were surprised he (Gilnirang) didn’t advance to the final today,” chief coach Hargobind Singh said after the defeat.

In the semifinal,Gilnirang went down in controversial manner. He had floored Kazakhstan’s Yerulan Iskakov more than once in the third period of their last four bout but the referees did not register the point. Despite all the protests and a review the referee panel did not overturn the decision.

Late & early exits

Gilnirang’s loss was what had handed Bhim Singh another shot at the medal through repechage as the Indian had earlier lost to the Kazakhi wrestler in the quarter-finals. In an earlier round,Bhim Singh had defeated Kyrgyzstan’s Aman Toktogonov after losing the first period.

Also making an early exit from the tournament was Priyanka Singh,the sole Indian female wrestler on show today,after losing her opening bout to Japan’s Ayano Suzuki.