Suraj Vashishth Shines in World Wrestling Debut, Advances to 60kg Quarters

Zagreb, Croatia, Sep 19 (PTI) - Young Suraj Vashishth impressed in his debut at the senior World Championships by advancing to the 60kg quarterfinals, before being knocked out, while Aman Gulia faced an early exit on Friday.

Amidst challenges faced by many Greco Roman wrestlers, the U20 World Championships bronze medalist and U20 Asian Champion secured two victories, providing the coaching staff with reasons to be hopeful. Suraj triumphed 3-1 over Angel Tellez, followed by another 3-1 victory against Moldova's Victor Ciobanu.

However, his quarterfinal journey ended with a 1-4 loss to Serbia's Georgij Tibilov. The 19-year-old native of Rohtak previously ended India's six-year gold drought at an international event by clinching the U20 Asian title in Bishkek in July.

With further experience and exposure at the senior level, Vashishth is poised for improvement. He has already claimed a senior silver at the Mongolia Open and secured bronze at the Yasar Dogu.

In the 72kg category, Ankit Gulia was overpowered by technical superiority by Korean Yeonghun Noh in the qualification round, which eventually spelled the end for the Indian after Yeonghun’s quarterfinal defeat.

Meanwhile, in the 97kg division, Nitesh opened with a tight 3-2 win over Croatia's Filip Smetko but succumbed 0-4 to Iran’s world number one, Mohammadhadi Saravi.

Aman Gulia also faltered, losing his 77kg repechage round by technical superiority to Ukraine’s Ihor Bychkkov.

India's sole medal in the current championship edition came courtesy of Antim Panghal, who claimed a bronze in the women's 53kg category on Thursday.

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