Indian wrestlers yet gain falter at World Championship

LAS VEGAS: In the absence of India's best bet Yogeshwar Dutt, who pulled out at the last minute due to an injury, India once again faltered in the World Championship with all four women wrestlers bowing out of the event in the initial stages of their respective categories here.

Yogeshwar was scheduled to fight in men's 65kg freestyle category today but due to a knee injury he was forced to pull out of the tournament, leaving the slot void of any Indian participation.

Four Indian women grapplers, including veteran Geeta Phogat, could not make it to the medal round.

In 58kg category, Geeta initially went down to Japan's Kaori Icho 0-10 in the qualification round, but since her Japanese opponent reached the finals, she got a chance to fight in repechage.

However, she failed to enter the bronze medal play-off round as she lost her repechage bout 0-10 to Turkey's Elif Jale Yesilirmak, who eventually finished at third place.

Meanwhile, Anita gave a good account of herself in the qualification round before going down in the pre-quarterfinal.

A dominant Anita beat Nadiia Mushka Sementsova 9-1 in the qualifying to advance in 63kg category. She, however, failed to sustain her momentum in the next round, going down to Sandra Viviana Roa Velandia of Colombia 2-5.

The other two - Lalita and Nikki - also fell in the pre-quarterfinal rounds of 55kg and 75kg divisions, respectively.

While Lalita was beaten by Anri Kimura of Japan 0-7, Nikki also lost her bout by same margin against another Japanese rival Chiaki Iijima.