Rio de Janeiro: In a massive heartbreak for India, wrestler Yogeshwar Dutt slumped to shock defeat in the men’s 65kg freestyle qualification round bout against Ganzorigiin Mandakhnaran of Mongolia at the Rio Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, on Sunday.
The London Olympic bronze-medallist’s hopes will depend on whether Mongolian opponent can reach the gold medal round. Mandakhnaran is the gold-medallist from the 2010 Asian Games and a two-time World Championships bronze-winner.
Should Mandakhnaran make the final, Yogeshwar will have to fight two repechage rounds before entering the bronze medal playoff.
The 33-year-old grappler from Haryana, who is playing in his fourth and, in all probability, last Olympics, looked a pale shadow of his previous self as he lost 0-3 to the Mongolian grappler.
From the very beginning, Yogeshwar failed to get around the Mandakhnaran, who moved at a very fast pace.
In the opening period, Mandakhnaran earned a point in 30 seconds due to the passivity of Yogeshwar to take a 1-0 lead.
Mandakhnaran then turned a defensive position into an attacking one to take down Yogeshwar and quickly bag two points to surge ahead.
With a minute to go, Yogeshwar failed to get around his opponent and went into the break 0-3 down.
Yogeshwar, who qualified for the Rio Games only in March this year, after struggling with a knee injury, was expected to turn the tables in the second period but he just could not script a comeback.
He tried to pin down his rival in the last minute of the bout but all his efforts went in vain.
PTI