Tashkent, Sept 10:
After a disappointing show by the Indian men in freestyle category, the women grapplers also failed to make their presence felt with Commonwealth Games silver medallist Sakshi Malik (60kg) bowing out of the FILA World Championships in the quarterfinal here today.
Other Indians in the fray today — Priyanka Singh, Pooja Dhanda and Suman Kundu — also crashed out of the prestigious tournament after losing in the initial round of their respective bouts.
Sakshi was the lone Indian wrestler who could clear the first hurdle after she defeated Anta Sambou of Senegal 4-1 in the Round of 16 to advance to the quarterfinals.
But her elation was short lived as she went down 1-3 to Finland’s Petra Maarit Olli in the round of eight.
Pooja, who had bagged a bronze medal in the 58kg freestyle category at the Senior Asian Wrestling Championship earlier this year, failed to go beyond the quarterfinal round as she lost 0-4 to Altantsetseg Battsetseg of Mongolia in 55kg freestyle event.
In 48kg wrestling, Priyanka Singh lost 0-4 in the round of 32 to Emilia Alina Vuc of Romania to make early exit, while Suman Kundu lost 0-5 in the qualifying round bout of 69kg category against Russia’s Natalia Vorobeva, thus failing to make it to the proper competition.
India have fielded a second-string team in the ongoing tournament in view of the upcoming Asian Games in Incheon, South Korea, starting September 19. (PTI)
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