Indian Men's Wrestlers Fall Short at U17 World Championship

Indian men's freestyle wrestlers will return empty-handed from the U17 World Championship. Jaspooran Singh, the last Indian in medal contention, lost his bronze play-off. Other wrestlers, including Shivam, Kartik, Sitender, Nishant Ruhul, and Sunny, also fell short in their respective categories. Indian women wrestlers had previously won the team championship.

Indian men's freestyle wrestlers failed to secure any medals at the U17 World Championship as the last contender, Jaspooran Singh, missed out on a bronze after losing his play-off. Singh initially bounced back in the medal race by winning his 110kg repechage round by fall against Japan's Yuki Yamamoto but faltered against Iran's Abolfazl Mohammad Nezhad.

Shivam (45kg) faced a tough defeat against Dzhamal Bakaev in the quarterfinals by technical superiority after a victory over Ukraine's Mykhailo Didoshak. Bakaev's subsequent loss to USA's Samuel Reyes Sanchez in the semifinals ended Shivam's repechage route.

In the 51kg category, Kartik exited early after a 4-10 loss to Turkey's Tugrul Demirci, who also lost his pre-quarterfinal, closing the door on Kartik. Sitender, starting strong in the 60kg category, won against Andrei Kuzniatsou by technical superiority but was later defeated 3-5 by Bekassyl Asambek. Other wrestlers, including Nishant Ruhul (71kg) and Sunny (92kg), were also eliminated in the early rounds. Meanwhile, Indian women wrestlers had a successful run, winning the team championship with eight medals, including five golds from nine contestants.

(With inputs from agencies.)