RAVINDER STUNS CHAMPION BUT LOSES IN LAST 8; TO VIE FOR BRONZE IN OSLO WORLDS

Indian wrestler Ravinder stunned defending champion Beka Lomtadze before being outclassed by American Daton Duain Fix in the 61kg quarter-finals even as three of his compatriots were eliminated in the qualification rounds of the World Championships here on Saturday. Ravinder, who won silver in the Junior World Championships in August, gave a good account of himself in his three bouts and will now be in contention for bronze via repechage.

Yash Tunir (74kg), national champion Sandeep Mann (86kg) and Anirudh (125kg) could not get past the qualification rounds in their respective categories.

Ravinder began with a technical superiority win over Korea’s Kim Sunggwon and then returned to the mat to shock 2019 world champion Lomtadze, who ran out of steam. In the first period, only two push-out points were scored with Ravinder leading on last-point scored criteria. He lost another point for stepping out but grabbed the lead with a take-down move against the Georgian.

Lomtadze was struggling to catch his breath and Ravinder took full advantage of his rival’s lack of stamina. He effected a throw to consolidate his lead and earned another point when referee cautioned the Georgian for taking too much time to get on to his feet.

However, the American proved too good for Ravinder, who lost his quarter-final by technical superiority. A flurry of gut-wrench moves followed from Fix, who finished the bout inside two minutes.

The 2019 Pan American champion later reached the final to present Ravinder a chance to fight for bronze.

Ravinder will now have to beat the winner of the bout between Bulgaria’s Georgi Valentinov Vangelov and Arman Norik Eloyan of France. If he manages to win the repechage round, he will be up against Armenia’s Arsen Harutyunyan.

Later, Yash, the 74kg contender, was outplayed 0-7 by Russia’s Timur Bizhoev.