World Wrestling C’ships 2023: Sarita Mor, Divya Kakran lose pre-quarterfinal bouts in Belgrade

Indian wrestlers Sarita Mor and Divya Kakran lost their pre-quarter-final bouts in the Olympic 57kg and 76kg categories respectively on Tuesday at the World Wrestling Championships in Belgrade, Serbia.

The Indian contingent is competing here under the United World Wrestling flag as the Wrestling Federation of India has been suspended by the international body for not holding its elections in the stipulated time.

Team-mates Antim Kundu (65kg) and Neelam (50kg) also ended their campaigns in the quarter-finals.

The chances of the four grapplers making it to the bronze-medal round via the repechage route also evaporated as the opponents they had lost to failed to make it to the final.

The repechage comes into effect for wrestlers who lose in the pre-quarterfinals or later. It gives them another opportunity to revive their fortunes in the competition if the opponent they have lost to reaches the final.

Sarita, after defeating Betzabeth Colmenarez of Venezuela 6-1 in the first round, lost to Nigeria’s Odunayo Adekuoroye 4-6 in the pre-quarterfinal.

Divya, after getting the better of Turkey’s Mehtap Gultekin 7-5 in the qualification round, lost the pre-quarterfinal bout to Canada’s world No.4 Justina Renay after the latter scored more technical points.

However, both Adekuoroye and Justina lost in the quarterfinals, shutting the repechage door on Sarita and Divya.

In the...

Read more