Marquee names keep away,event fails to impress

They finished only second best after losing out to Irans Hosseinkhani and Georgias Gochashvili respectively.

Indian wrestlers Narsingh Yadav and Nitin Kumar missed an opportunity to win gold on the opening day of the inaugural Hari Ram Indian Grand Prix. They finished only second best after losing out to Irans Hosseinkhani and Georgias Gochashvili respectively.

For the organisers of the Grand Prix,the news couldnt have been worse on a day when two top Indian wrestlers pulled out and the large crowds that were expected simply failed to turn up. With two of the Olympic-bound Indian stars failing to make their scheduled appearance,those present had a chance to make an impression on the federation at the Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium but they failed to do so.

Yogeshwar Dutt 60kg didnt appear for the customary weigh-in while female wrestler Geeta Phogat 55kg withdrew from the competition. While Yogeshwars appearance had been a matter of speculation given his back injury,Phogat apparently wanted to concentrate on the London Games.

Meanwhile,the biggest name in the event,Beijing Olympics bronze-medallist Sushil Kumar,is still uncertain. While his bout in the 66kg is scheduled for Sunday,it is yet to be seen if he turns for the weigh-in on Saturday.

The absence of Sushil will be a blow for the organisers of the tournament,held under the aegis of the Wrestling Federation of India WFI,who had announced the participation of Indias top wrestlers.

On Friday,Nitin Kumar beat compatriot Vinod Kumar in the semi-finals but Gochashvili got the better of him in a tightly-contested bout. The first two periods were each decided by a draw of luck called clinch,where a wrestler gets a grappling hold advantage on his opponent.

The first draw went in Kumars favour and he won the period. He wasnt as lucky in the second and,even though he managed to stave off the threat of being pinned,he was taken out of the mat and conceded a point. In the third period Kumar,despite all his defensive brilliance,couldnt fight off the Georgian. Vinod Kumar won a bronze after beating Azerbaijans Muradov 2-0 2-0.

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In the 74kg final,Narsingh held on and didnt concede a point to Hosseinkhani. But he failed to take full advantage of a foothold and lost the opening period 0-1 on clinch. Leading 1-0 in the next,he again failed to take the bout to the third period as the Iranian had him under a firm grip and hoisted him over his shoulders to win the gold.

There was more disappointment for the hosts as female wrestlers Kavita 48kg and Rachna 55kg lost their repechage bouts and failed to make the podium.