Sushil Kumar Knocked Out of Asian Games, No Shot at ‘Repechage’

Asian Games 2018: Indian wrestler Sushil Kumar suffered a shock first round defeat in the 74 kg category.

The day isn't getting any better for Sushil Kumar after his opening round loss to Adam Batirov of Bahrain. While the 5-3 defeat ensured he will not be able to win his first Asian Games gold, subsequent results now confirm that Sushil is indeed fully out of contention for a medal in the men's 74 kg category.

One of India’s big medal favourites on the first day of competition as the Asian Games, Sushil took an early 2-0 lead in his bout but was soon penalised for stalling and that opened the account for Batirov, going into the break.

The 33-year-old from Bahrain picked up his pace after the break and led 3-2 with a take down. Sushil seemed sluggish and off-colour but managed to create two opportunities to score in the second period but could not convert both, picking up just one point. Failing to find a clincher, Sushil lost the bout 3-5.

I did not expect this. I did not have any big competition under my belt and that was the main reason for my defeat. But it’s part of sport. I will train harder and come back. I was not passive. I tried.

Sushil Kumar

(For complete coverage of the 2018 Asian Games, click here.)

Repechage

While that loss put Sushil Kumar out of contention for a gold medal at these 18th Asian Games, his hopes for a bronze relied on the ‘repechage rule’ for which he needed Adam Batirov to reach the final.

According to the rule, whichever wrestlers reach the final of a category, the opponents they defeated in the previous rounds would then fight each other for a brozne.

Interestingly, it was this very rule through which Sushil won his first Olympic medal, the bronze at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. However, today it was not to be, with Batirov losing his quarter-final match.

Bajrang Soldiers On

There was better news for India in the men's 65 kg freestyle division as Bajrang Punia crushed Sirojiddin Khasanov of Uzbekistan by technical superiority in his campaign opener.

Bajrang struggled in the early stages as Khasanov opened up a comfortable 3-0 lead. But the Indian staged a strong comeback by notching up six consecutive points to lead 6-3 at he break. He completely dominated the second and final round, scoring seven points within two minutes to take a 13-3 lead which saw him being adjudged the winner by technical superiority.

A wrestler is considered winner by technical superiority when he leads by 10 or more points.

Bajrang then beat Fayziev Abdulqosim of Tajikistan 12-2 and was declared the winner of the quarter-final be technical superiority.

(More to follow)