Paris: India’s wrestler Nisha Dahiya lost to North Korea’s Sol Gum Pak 10-8 in the women’s freestyle 68 kg quarterfinal match at Champ-de-Mars Arena in the Paris Olympics on Monday. Nisha led the first round with a score of 4-0 and extended her lead to 8-1 before dislocating her finger. The Indian grappler was in much pain and the match was even stopped more than twice to give her medical attention on the mat.
The doctor taped her finger and within seconds after resuming the bout, the North Korean grappler took advantage of her injured opponent to level it 8-8. With the last 12 seconds remaining before the final hooter, the North Korean took the two points quickly to seal the match 10-8.
After the match, Nisha was seen crying on the mat as she was once looking strong to win the match after establishing a hefty lead over her opponent.
However, Nisha will still have a chance to reach a medal round through repechage if Pak wins her semifinal and reaches the final.
Earlier, Nisha defeated Ukraine’s Tetiana Sova 6-4 in the pre-quarterfinals match.
Nisha opened the scoring and took a 1-0 lead through a step-out point in the first round. Tetiana relied on her defence and waited for the perfect chance to score four points on the counterattack and held a 4-1 lead.
In what can only be described as a close encounter, Nisha scored two points with a takedown and one more with a step-out to fight her way back and tie the bout 4-4.
The game remained tied with the clock running out in the encounter but a late takedown with just 11 seconds remaining secured two points and a 6-4 victory for the Indian grappler.
(IANS)
