The Indian contingent’s men’s freestyle wrestling category had mixed fortunes in the U17 World Wrestling Championships 2024 conducted in Amman, Jordan, from 21 and 24 August in the year 2024.
The men’s team will have to come back and hustle for the next tournaments that are to come.
The high-hopes medal haul ended up with none, as their sole medal hopeful, Jaspooran Singh, lost his bronze medal about.
Jaspooran Singh’s Performance
Jaspooran Singh of India in the 110 kg category was the sole hope left for a medal. That was not a smooth ride.
Jaspooran lost the first round against a strong opponent. Though derailed, he made it into the medal race through the repechage round.
Jaspooran made amends in the Repechage round itself as he won by fall against Japan’s Yuki Yamamoto and got himself into the Bronze medal match—thus reviving hopes for India.
But the bronze medal about turned out to be a tough contest for Jaspooran. He faced Iran’s Abolfazl Mohammad Nezhad, and this man was something different.
Jaspooran tried till the end but could not win the about, losing it and thus ending India’s hopes for a medal in the men’s freestyle category.
Other Indian Wrestlers’ Performances
Others in the Indian men’s freestyle wrestlers also came up against similarly strong opponents and did not manage to get farther into the rounds.
Shivam (45 kg): Shivam began his campaign with a hard-fought victory over Ukraine’s Mykhailo Didoshak.But in the quarterfinal, he lost to Russia’s Dzhamal Bakaev due to technical superiority.
However, when Bakaev lost in the semifinals, it also closed the door on Shivam’s hopes to get a medal through the repechage round.
Kartik (51 kg): Kartik’s campaign came to a quick end after he lost his pre-quarter-final to Turkey’s Tugrul Demirci.
The disappointment didn’t end there for Kartik; after his defeat, Tugrul also lost his pre-quarter-final fight, announcing the end of Kartik’s campaign.
60kg Sitender: Sitender had a good start with a mammoth win by technical superiority over Andrei Kuzniatsou from Belarus.
However, he lost in the pre-quarterfinals with a close score against Kazakhstan’s Bekassyl Asambek, a score of 3-5. Somehow, Asambek did not progress further in the category.
71kg Nishant Ruhul: Nishant, too, had a brief campaign, bowing out in the initial rounds against Hungary’s Mark Matyas Laposa.
Sunny (92 kg): The campaign of Sunny was cut short by Iran’s Amir Reza Mahmoud Ali Pour, shutting out India’s medal hope in the 92 kg category.
Indian Women’s Team Shines
Image Credit: Life in Chandigarh
The professional women’s wrestling team of India at the U17 World Wrestling Championship created new records by bagging five gold and eight overall medals among nine participants, securing the team championship.
The same is in contrast to their male counterparts who struggled throughout. The women did far better than their male counterparts in this year’s championship.
Totally a hard championship for the junior freestyle wrestlers from India; no one made it to the medals team. Another valiant effort for Jaspooran Singh came up just short in the bronze medal match.
Future Prospects of Wrestling in India
There really wasn’t a happy ending, though, to that competition for the Indian men’s freestyle team at the U17 World Wrestling Championships.
The results were quite abysmal. However, the experience which these young wrestlers garnered is priceless.
It gives them some vital exposure crucial to their development when placed against the best in the wrestling world.
The Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) will probably use this experience as a learning exercise.
In the future, the training camps and coaching strategies are going to be designed to fill in these gaps observed during the current championship.
Greater focus will be on mental conditioning since the way one handles the pressure of international competition is as important as physical preparation.
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References:
https://sportstar.thehindu.com/wrestling/u17-world-wrestling-championship-2024-jaspooran-singh-loses-bronze-bout-no-medal-for-india-in-men-freestyle/article68563653.ece
https://www.dtnext.in/news/sports/jaspooran-loses-bronze-bout-india-draw-blank-in-mens-freestyle-800957
