Indian wrestler Sujeet Kalkal was distraught after losing his repechage round against the American Real Marshall Ray Woods at the World Championships in Zagreb on Tuesday.
He lost 5-7 and was aghast at the fact that his opponent wasn’t penalized for being passive in the second round of the 65kg bout.
It has been a tough couple of days for the 22-year-old who almost toppled former World Champion and 2024 Paris Olympics medallist Rahman Amouzad, losing 5-6 in a thriller on Monday and then was on the wrong end of a close contest.
Sujeet was expected to lead Indian medal hopes at the World Championships after his brilliant show at the Budapest Ranking series earlier this year where he won the gold medal.
“It was a disappointing loss. He could have won the bout but the Iranian held on due to his experience. I never thought he would lose a close bout like this,” Sujeet’s coach Kuldeep Singh told The Indian Express. “He has improved his strength massively but now needs to work on transitions. Sujeet is still young and will learn from his mistakes.”
Sujeet started his campaign with a 15-5 win over Turkish wrestler Cavit Acar. In the second round, he overcame North Korean wrestler Kwang Jin Kim 9-2, before losing to Amouzad in the quarterfinals.
While Sujeet lost on the mat, the other Indian medal hope Aman Sehrawat couldn’t even start his campaign in the 57kg category. The Paris Olympics bronze medallist didn’t weigh in before the tournament due to fever and was disqualified.
Story continues below this ad
In the men’s 97kg category, Vicky made the repechage rounds but was pinned by Adamovich Magamaev of Bulgaria ending hopes of a medal.
Women wrestlers disappoint
It was a similar story in the women’s section. U20 World Champion Tapasya lost 2-4 in the 57kg category to Bertha Chavez of Mexico. Ankush bowed out in the 50kg class, losing to Natallia Varakina of Belarus 5-6 in the first round.
Both Indians were in winning positions but failed to hold on to the advantage and conceded points in the last seconds to lose.
Debutant Vaishnavi Patil (65kg) won her first match against Latvian Elma Zeidlere 3-1 but lost the quarterfinal against Enkhjin Tuvshinjargal 2-4. She has a chance in repechage if the Mongolian reaches the final.
Story continues below this ad
In the 76kg category, Priya Malik lost in the first round to Ecuador’s Genesis Reasco Valdez but has a shot at a medal via repechage.
© The Indian Express Pvt Ltd
