Greco Roman wrestlers bow out of Worlds with tame defeats

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 1/8 bout 1-4 to Laokratis Kesidis from Greece.

Harpreet (R) lost his quarterfinal match to Laokratis Kesidis from Greece. (FILE PHOTO)

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.