Ravi Rathi (97kg) suffered a 0-8 loss against Belarus’ Dzmitry Kaminski in the bronze medal play-off in Greco-Roman category as Indian grapplers ended their campaign with two silver medals at the UWW Under-23 World Championships here.
Ravi had emerged victorious in the repechage bout when he edged Uzur Dzhuzupbekov of Kyrgyzstan 3-1 on Sunday but he couldn’t bring his best to the fore during the bronze medal play-off.
With this, India’s campaign at the tournament came to an end with Ravinder (61kg) and Pooja Gehlot (53kg) returning with silver medals.
“Winning the silver especially after a comeback from injury is a huge boost to my confidence and it will motivate me,” said silver medallist Pooja Gehlot.
India earned its best position in men’s freestyle team rankings, where 48 points gave the contingent an 11th place finish.
In women’s wrestling, India finished at 12th and 15th spots in freestyle and Greco-Roman respectively.
Improved performance
India produced an improved performance in this edition with nine wrestlers making it to the quarter-finals: three each in freestyle, Greco-Roman and women’s wrestling.
India’s best show in this competition, however, still remains in the inaugural edition in 2017 when Bajrang Punia, Vinod Kumar Omprakash and Ritu Phogat each claimed silver medals.
