India began their campaign in the Senior Asian Wrestling Championship on a disappointing note, losing all the four bouts in the Greco-Roman event.
Of the four, Gaurav Sharma (55kg) and Sunil Rana (66kg), though, reached the medal round via repechage, eventually missing out on bronze.
Ravinder Singh (60kg) and Naveen (120kg) lost in the preliminary rounds. But India’s chief coach, Hargobind Singh, declined to accept the players were unprepared. “The players gave a good account of themselves,” he said.
Goof up
There was a goof up during the medal ceremony of the 55kg category which was won by South Korea’s Gyu-Jin Choi. Instead of the national anthem of South Korea, Bollywood song ‘Chake de India’ was heard over the public address system.
Thankfully the organisers realised the blunder and
shut off the music as fast as possible.
Also, the Wrestling Federation of India, failed in its endeavour to market the event. Despite complimentary tickets issued by the federation, there were few takers for the event on the opening day.