World Championships Miffed WFI unlikely to continue with Indian coaches

New Delhi,
Rio Olympics bronze medallist Sakshi Malik and Glasgow CWG gold winner Vinesh Phogat were expected to lift the pall of gloom that had descended on the Indian camp at the World Wrestling Championships in Paris.

After three days of listless show by the Indian grapplers, there were big hopes riding on the shoulders of Sakshi and Vinesh.

But the country’s two biggest medal contenders crashed out of the competition tamely. While Sakshi (60kg) lost 3-2 to Germany’s Luisa Niemesch in the first round itself, Vinesh (48kg) went down to two-time junior world champion Victoria Anthony of the USA in the second round.

What made the defeat taste all the more bitter for Vinesh was the fact that she was leading Victoria 4-0 at one stage. But Vinesh suddenly changed her approach and became defensive, allowing her opponent to attack and clinch the bout by technical fall. Vinesh had started the day on a promising note, defeating Ukraine’s Oksana Livach 13-2 in her opening bout.

Since both Luisa and Victoria lost their respective bouts later on in the competition, the two Indians didn’t get to fight the repechage round for the bronze medal playoff.

Earlier, Sheetal Tomar (69kg) and Navjot Kaur (53kg) also bowed out of the competition. While Navjot was defeated 10-5 by Mongolia’s Ochirbat Nasanburmaa, Sheetal’s performance had raised the medal hopes.

Sheetal beat Australia’s Jessica Mcbain 10-0 to reach the quarterfinals. But she ran out of steam in the quarters and lost 4-2 to Romania’s Estera Dobre

Now, the country’s hopes rest with the men’s freestyle wrestlers, especially Asian champion Bajrang Punia (65kg) and Olympian Sandeep Tomar (57kg), on the last two days of the championships.