Greco Roman wrestlers bow out of Worlds with tame defeats

India’s campaign at the World Championship ended with Greco Roman wrestlers yet again coming a cropper on the final day of the competitions, here on Saturday.

Of three grapplers in action, only Hardeep managed to win a bout when he downed Morocco’s Choucri Atafi 8-4 in the 1/16 in the 97kg category. Later, he lost his quarterfinal bout 1-4 to Laokratis Kesidis from Greece.

In the 77kg, Gurpeet lost by technical superiority (0-9) to Kairatbek Tugolbaev in the Qualification round while Naveen lost 1-4 to Norway’s Oskar Marvik at the same stage.

India returned with two medals, with Bajarang Punia winning a silver and Pooja Dhanda a bronze.

India’s best show at the World Championship was in 2013 when Amit Dahiya won a silver in 55kg, Bajrang returned with a bronze in 60kg and Sandeep Tulsi Yadav grabbing a historic bronze in Greco Roman style.