India drew a blank on the last day of the Senior Asian Wrestling Championships on Sunday even as the country finished the tournament with a rich haul of eight medals. India bagged one gold and one silver each, besides six bronze medals from the competition. In the 61kg freestyle category, India's Shravan lost 0-10 against Kazuya Koyanagi of Japan in the quarter-finals but he got a chance to feature in the bronze medal play-off after his rival made it to the final.
But in the bronze medal play-off, Shravan lost to Abbos Rakhmonov of Uzbekistan after his rival pocketed the all-important final point even though the bout ended in 6-6 tie.
In the 74kg division, it was an early exit for Parveen Rana after he lost 0-5 to Mostafa Mohabbali Hosseinkhani of Iran in the opening round. The onus was then left on Deepak Punia (86kg) to get India a medal on the final day but he too surrendered in the bronze medal clash.
After getting the better of Wisam Shakir Mahmood of Iraq in the opening round, Punia crashed to a 0-7 defeat against Uitumen Orgodol of Mongolia in the quarterfinals.
Punia, however, got a chance to feature in repechage where he defeated Shota Shirai of Japan 7-2 to enter the bronze medal match.
However, it was not to be Punia's day as he handed a 10-0 hammering by China's Shengfeng Bi to return empty-handed. The script was the same for Indian wrestlers in the 92kg and 125kg class as both Somveer and Sumit failed to live up to expectations.
While Somveer crashed out in the quarterfinals, losing 0-10 to Zushen Li of China, Sumit was shown the door in the opening round by Koungjin Nam of Korea.
Besides the rich haul of eight medals, Navjot Kaur had scripted history by becoming the first Indian woman wrestler to win a gold in the senior continental championship as she clinched the yellow metal in the 65kg freestyle category. Rio Olympics bronze medallist Sakshi Malik also won a bronze in the 62kg freestyle category.
(With PTI Inputs)
