Three Indian free-style wrestlers fell by the wayside, losing their second-round bouts on the day one of the UWW World Championships, with only the 70kg grappler Abhimanyu entering the quarterfinal in Belgrade on September 16.
Abhimanyu, the bronze-medal winner at the U23 World Championships in June and ranked 26th in the world, first upset Ukrainian world No.7 Ihor Nykyforuk 19-9 by effecting a victory by fall (VFA) before defeating Moldova’s Nicolai Grahmez 13-2 (technical superiority) to secure a place in the quarters.
He will, however, run into world No.2 from the United States, 28-year-old Zain Allen Retherford, runner-up at the 2022 World Championships in Belgrade last year.
