Greco-Roman wrestlers' struggles continue at Worlds

Ravi won India's first bout at the World Championships before suffering a defeat by fall as the country's Greco-Roman wrestlers' disappointing show continued here on Sunday. The Olympic qualification was at stake in three categories but all three Indians cut a sorry figure as Manish (67kg), Sunil Kumar (87kg) and Ravi (97kg) exited without a fight.

The four wrestlers in action on an opening day had not won a single bout and three of them did not even score a point but Ravi managed to win about against Chinese Taipei's Cheng Hao Chen. Ravi opened up a 2-0 lead with the take-down move and remained defensive until the end of the period.

In the second period, the Taipei lost a point due to passivity and Ravi took advantage by employing a gut-wrench from the ground position. There was not much action in the bout as the Indian won 5-0. In the next bout against Czech Republic's Artur Omarov, Ravi lost two points for fleeing the mat and then conceded a passivity point.

Omarov finished the bout in a jiffy as he made the score 7-0 with two gut wrench moves and then pinned his opponent, 27 seconds before the end of the first period. Omarov later lost his quarterfinal 1-2 to Serbia's Mihail Kajaia, closing doors on Ravi.

Manish opened up an early 1-0 lead but conceded 10 points in a row to lose by Techincal Superiority against Bulgaria's Devvid Tihomirov Dimitrov. The Bulgarian later lost his quarterfinal 0-6 to Denmark's Fredrik Holmquist Bjerrhuus, ending Manish's hopes to get into medal round via repechage.

In the 87kg, Sunil lost 0-6 to USA's Joseph Patrick Rau. The American lost his pre-quarterfinal by technical Superiority to Belarus' Mikalai Stadub, ensuring the Indian's exit.