Sport - Wrestling   

Gurbinder storms into semifinals

By Kirti Patil

India's Gurbinder grapples with Masaki Izena of Japan in their 66kg Greco-Roman category bout in the Asian wrestling championship in New Delhi on Thursday. — Photo: Sandeep Saxena

NEW DELHI JUNE 5. Gurbinder Singh provided some spark to India's medal hunt amidst an otherwise disappointing opening day for the home team in the 16th Asian wrestling championship here on Thursday.

Gurbinder secured a berth in the semifinals of the men's 66-kg Greco-Roman style competition as he won his two opening-round bouts at the furnace-like Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium.

After a satisfying 6-0 win against Izena Masaki of Japan, Gurbinder had a much tougher opponent in the second round. Kazakhstan's Kanat Begaliev snatched three quick points to leave the Indian gasping.

Gurbinder, the only Indian who had qualified in both styles at the Sydney Olympic Games, rallied brilliantly. First he closed the gap to 1-3, then made a daring attempt twisting his body to throw Kanat on the mat. This effort earned him three points for a 4-3 lead, but in the process he sustained back muscle cramps. Gurbinder needed medical attention to recover, and he managed to end the bout with a 6-3 margin.

In the Greco-Roman style, India's hopes largely depended on 55-kg wrestler Mukesh Khatri. But the host received a setback when Khatri was disqualified due to overweight. During the weighing-in Khatri, the Junior World bronze medallist, was found 400gm heavier than the allowed weight.

If Khatri's disqualification had dampened India's spirits, it received further jolts, in the men's freestyle event. All the three grapplers in action on Thursday, lost their first round league matches. Though Kripa Shankar managed to pull off a 4-0 win in the second round later in the afternoon, his chances remained dim.

Having lost to Korea's Yang Jae Hoon in the morning, Kripa Shankar's stay in the championship hangs on the third-round league matches where the Indian gets a bye in a three-player pool.

Despite soaring temperatures and non-functional air-conditioning system, Iran and the Central Asian nations faced no obstacle in keeping up to their billing. The Iranian wrestlers dominated the mat with ease, while those from Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan also had favourable results.

There was a talk that the organisers opted not to pay the air-conditioning charges to the Sports Authority of India (SAI) to give a possible edge to the wrestlers from the host nation. The heat being such these days in the capital, the theory was that the Central Asians, coming from cooler climes, would be hard put to perform at their best. That the Indian matmen struggled against their tough opponents was a different story altogether.

In the 66-kg men's freestyle, Pawan Kumar lost his first round league match to Mongolia's Bayarmagnai Norjia 4-2. Not much was expected from Kumar, who got the chance in place of a recovering Ramesh Kumar, the Commonwealth Games gold medallist.

In the afternoon, Kumar was up against Polot Uranzimbetov of Uzbekistan. After trailing 1-2 at the half-time, Pawan made good recovery and equalised the scores with just 10 seconds remaining on the clock. In the sudden death, Kumar and Polot both were awarded one point each for a same attack. But after prolonged video replays, chief referee decided to nullify Kumar's point.

In the women's section, India had a fruitful day with 63-kg Geetika Jakhar winning her two league bouts. Geetika has one more bout in the league, but her place in the final has almost been ensured.

* The results: league:

Men: Freestyle: second round: 55-kg: Kripa Shankar (Ind) bt Firos Rafael Khaled (Syr) 4-0; Bauyezhan Orazhalyev (Kaz) bt Enkhtur Badamgoikhan (Mon) 4-3; Mohammad Aslani (Iri) bt Tomohiro Matsunaga (Jpn) 5-4.

66-kg: Tahmasbi Hassan (Iri) bt Tabaldy Ulu Syimenkul (Kgz) 8-3; Polot Urazimbetov (Uzb) bt Pawan Kumar (Ind) 3-2; Bayarmagnai Norjia (Mon) bt MarenKoolmani Adnan (Syr) 5-1; Kazuhiko Ikematsu (Jpn) bt Weichuan Yi (Tpe) fall; Kim Sungsil (Kor) bt Sabit Kendybayev (Kaz) 6-0.

84-kg: Aliev Shahil (Tjk) bt Jun Kyung Min (Kor) 4-2; Marcus Valda (Phi) bt Marma Sinha Tripujra (Ban) 14-3; Magdmad Kuzugiyev (Kaz) bt Takao Isokawa (Jpn) TF; Dorostkar Pejman (Iri) bt Vu Dand Dong (Vie) fall.

First round: 55-kg: Yang Jae Hoon (Kor) bt Kripa Shankar Patel (Ind) 11-3; Bauyezhan Orazhalyev (Kaz) bt Tomohiro Matsunaga (Jpn) 3-2; Enkhtur Badamgoikhan (Mon) bt Mohammad Aslani (Iri) 4-3.

66-kg: Tabaldy Ulu Syimenkul (Kgz) bt Kamal Hussain (Ban) fall; Bayarmagnai Norjia (Mon) bt Pawan Kumar (Ind) 4-2; Maren Koolmani Adnan (Syr) bt Urazimbetov Polot (Uzb) 5-4; Kim Sungsil (Kor) bt Kazuhiko Ikematsu (Jpn) 5-3; Sabit Kendybayev (Kaz) bt Weichuan Yi (Tpe) TF.

84-kg: Aliev Shahil (Tjk) bt Aslam Sanakoev (Uzb) 3-2; Batbayar Buyandelger (Mon) bt Marcus Valda (Phi) TF; Magdmad Kuzugiyev (Kaz) bt Anuj Kumar (Ind) 2-1; Vu Dand Dong (Vie) bt Ting Chad Yi (3-0).

Greco-Roman: second round: 55-kg: Kqlilovuran (Kgz) bt Yasuto Fujita (Jpn) 8-1; Bauafa Hamid (Iri) bt Hue Dnagd (Vie) 6-1; Imanbyevasset (Kaz) bt Imdawon (Kor) 7-0; Holmatov Kamal (Uzb) bt Wu Wei Cheng (Tpe) fall.

66-kg: Zeidvand Parviz (Iri) bt Kur Banov Bakhodir (Uzb) 3-0; Manukyan Mkhitar (Kaz) bt Choi-Wanoho (Kor) 3-1; Masaki Izena (Jpn) w.o Yaser Salim Abdul (Syr); Gurbinder Singh (Ind) bt Begaliev Kanat (Kgz) 6-3.

84-kg: Marasheian S. Ahmed (Iri) bt Kenjeev Janar (Kgz) 3-0; Bae Man Ku (Kor) bt Jabrailov Abdulla (Kaz) 4-3; Can Van Thuc (Vie) bt Lin Ming Chi (Tpe) 11-7; Erofaylov Engeniv (Uzb) bt Mitsuhivo Ota (Jpn) 3-0.

First round: 55-kg: Kqlilovuran (Kgz) bt Hue Dnagd (Vie) 5-0; Bauafa Hamid (Iri) bt Yasuto Fujita (Jpn) TF; Imanbyevasset (Kaz) bt Wuweicheng (Tpe) TF; Imdawon (Kor) bt Holmatov Kamal (Uzb) 8-5.

66-kg: Zeidvand Parviz (Iri) bt Choi-Wanoho (Kor) 9-0; Kur Banov Bakhodir (Uzb) bt Manukyan Mkhitar (Kaz) 3-2; Begaliev Kanat (Kgz) bt Yaser Salim Abdul (Syr) fall; Gurbinder Singh (Ind) bt Masaki Izena (Jpn) 6-0.

84-kg: Kenjeev Janar (Kgz) bt Satdev Malik (Ind) TF; Mohammad Moudon Kamel (Syr) bt Bae Man Ku (Kor) 3-2; Mitsuhivo Ota (Jpn) bt Can Van Thuc (Vie) TF; Lin Ming Chi (Tpe) bt Erofaylov Engeniv (Uzb) 8-5.

Women: Freestyle: second round: 48-kg: Kaowei Chien (Tpe) bt Phyam T. Phuong (Vie) 10-9; Kamini Yadav (Ind) bt Saniya Rakhimova (Kaz) fall.

55-kg: Sayuvi Tatemoto (Jpn) bt Manju Shekhawat (Ind) 5-0; Otgonjargal Naidan (Mon) bt Madina Kuzmangalveva (Kaz) 3-1.

63-kg: Ayako Shoda (Jpn) bt Chuang Shu Fang (Tpe) fall; Geetika Jakhar (Ind) bt Alexandza Boginskaya (Kaz) fall; Nguyen Thilan Anh (Vie) bt Rasulova Mursawva (Kgz) fall.

First round: 48-kg: Phyam T. Phuong (Vie) bt Park Ji Young (Kor) TF; Mika Noguchi (Jpn) bt Saniya Rakhimova (Kaz) TF.

55-kg: Sayuvi Tatemoto (Jpn) bt Lee Na Lae (Kor) 4-0; Otgonjargal Naidan (Mon) bt Wu Li Chuan (Tpe) TF.

63-kg: Hang Jin Young (Kor) bt Chuang Shu Fang (Tpe) 4-0; Geetika Jakhar (Ind) bt Nguyen Thilan Anh (Vie) fall; Rasulova Mursawva (Kgz) bt Alexandza Boginskaya (Kaz) TF.

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