Indian wrestler Sandeep Tomar’s hopes of getting back into the medal contention were doused after his pre-quarterfinal conqueror, Viktor Lebedev of Russia, lost 1-6 to Iran’s Hassam Rahimi in the quarterfinals.
Tomar had lost his men’s freestyle 57 kg bout to two-time World champion Lebedev 3-7 earlier on Friday. According to wrestling rules, Tomar would have gotten a repechage bout and a shot at bronze medal had Lebedev reached the final.
Lebedev, however, fell 1-6 to Hassan Rahimi in his next bout.
Sandeep first conceded a penalty point for his passivity and the Russian defended well as the Indian did not succeed in his attempt to get an ankle hold. In the process, Lebedev got a couple of technical points.
The first three-minute period saw the Russian leading 3-0. Tomar was more purposeful in the second period as he pushed Lebedev out to get a point and then finally got a single ankle hold right to reduce the margin to 3-5.
However, with little time left, Tomar had to go for the jugular but in the process let his guard down, which enabled the Russian to clinch the bout with a two-point manoeuvre to take an unassailable 7-3 lead.
{{/usCountry}}However, with little time left, Tomar had to go for the jugular but in the process let his guard down, which enabled the Russian to clinch the bout with a two-point manoeuvre to take an unassailable 7-3 lead.
{{/usCountry}}The only Indian wrestler left in the fray is London Olympics bronze medallist Yogeshwar Dutt.