Mansi to play for bronze, India’s campaign in Greco-Roman ends

Indian wrestler Mansi Ahlawat will play for a bronze medal at the World Wrestling Championships in Tirana, Albania, on Wednesday.

Mansi, a 59kg wrestler, defeated U23 World Championships gold medallist Solomiia Vynnyk 4-0 in the quarterfinal. Earlier, Mansi beat former World Championships gold medallist Jacarra Winchester in the first round 2-1 and Tekin Eda of Turkey 3-0 in the Round of 16.

But Mansi lost to former world champion Tserenchimed Sukhee of Mongolia 1-4 in the semifinals, forcing her to bid for the bronze medal.

In the women’s qualification round, Manisha and Kirti will play in the repechage round today.

Kirti, a 55kg wrestler, lost to Jin Zhang 2-0 in the qualification round. Kirti will play in the repechage round against Lulia Leodra of Moldova.

In the women’s 65kg category, Manisha Bhanwala, who beat Irina Kazyulina in the Round of 16, suffered a 1-2 defeat to China’s Jia Long in the quarterfinal. Manisha will hope to win the repechage round and secure her place in the bronze medal playoff.

In the 72kg category, Bipsha’s campaign ended in the qualification round as she lost to Anastasiya Alpyeyeva of Ukraine.

Greco-Roman wrestlers disappointed

Indian Greco-Roman wrestlers’ lopsided campaign at the World Wrestling Championships ended, with Rohit Dahiya losing in the repechage round 0-8 to Mihail Bradu of Moldova on Tuesday.

In the qualification round, Dahiya also lost to Mohammadali Geraei of Iran 0-8.

Meanwhile, Sanjeev lost to Mihai of Romania 0-9 in the 55kg category in the quarterfinal. Sanjeev defeated Koontz of the USA 5-3 in the Round of 16 bout.

No other wrestlers could go beyond the qualification round. Both Chetan and Ankit Gulia lost and exited in the qualification round.

In the 63kg category, Chetan lost to Michal Tracz of Poland 0-9, while in the 72kg category, Ankit Gulia lost to Michael Felix Wimayer.

India sent a 12-member contingent to the Wrestling Championships after the sports minister Mansukh Mandaviya approved the squad selected by the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI), currently suspended by the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports.