E-Paper
Wrestler Mukesh Khatri goes down tamely
India's Mukesh Khatri lost tamely 0-6 to his Russian rival in the Greco-Roman style at Athens on August 24, 2004.
India started on the wrong foot in the wrestling competition too with Mukesh Khatri losing tamely 0-6 to his Russian rival in the Greco-Roman style on the 11th day of the Olympic Games on Tuesday.
Khatri was too passive in his 55-kg bout and got docked two points for the transgression against his 30-year-old rival Gueidar Mamedaliev in the Group 'B' elimination rounds. But the Indian still has a bout against former world champion Dariusz Jablonski of Poland in the second bout later later on Tuesday to remain in the fray.
On the hockey front, the team's disastrous performance continued to show its ill effects with coach Gerhard Rach lashing out at some members of the team for criticising his tactics in the media.
Rach, appointed controversially to the hot seat less than a month before the Games in place of Rajinder Singh, was scathing in his criticism of veteran Dhanraj Pillay and forward Prabhjot Singh for airing their grievances in public.
"I don't know what Prabhjot is complaining about. I don't know why he is mourning. He has played 50-55 minutes in every game. Even in the last match against Argentina, he played for 25 minutes or so. For me, it's all an excuse for his failures. He has not performed upto expectations and he's trying to hide his failures," Rach said in reply to the frontliner's criticism yesterday.