Khatri stumbles at first hurdle

The Greco-Roman wrestler lost 0-3 in the elimination round bout to Russia's Gueidar Mamedaliev in men's 55kg competition.

India's Mukesh Khatri stumbled in his opening bout against Russia's Gueidar Mamedaliev, losing 0-3 in the Group B elimination round of men's 55 kg Greco-Roman wrestling competition at the Olympic Games on Tuesday.

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Khatri, who could not offer any resistance to his superior opponent, will take on former world champion Dariusz Jablonski of Poland in the second bout later on Tuesday evening to keep his hopes alive.

The Delhi-based wrestler was brave in holding the seasoned 30-year-old Russian for the first two minutes but Mamedaliev succeeded in taking a lead by scoring one point just before the end of the first half of the bout.

In the second half, 21-year-old Khatri, tried to display his best technique but the Russian extended his lead by further two points with one minute remaining for the completion of the contest before eventually taking a 3-0 lead.

Mamedaliev was declared winner with three technical points and three classification points to his credit in an otherwise cleanly fought bout.

The Indian was penalised twice for passivity while Mamedaliev was penalised once for the same.