Tokyo: Indian wrestler Sonam Malik’s Olympic Games debut ended with a first-round defeat on criteria at the hands of Mongolia’s Bolortuya Khurelkhuu in the 62kg category here on Tuesday.The 19-year-old led the bout 2-0, but Bolortuya effected a take-down move with just 35 seconds left in the contest to level the score. The score remained 2-2 at the end, but the Mongolian was declared winner on criteria as she scored the last point of the duel.
The Mongolian was later outplayed by Bulgaria’s Tayeb Mustafa Yusein, the result spelling the ouster of the Indian. Yusein finished her quarter-final against Bolortuya in a jiffy, winning by technical superiority. “Sonam was better than the Mongolian, but made a mistake by being too defensive,” Sonam’s coach Ajmer Malik told PTI. There was hardly any action for a major part of the bout.
No move was made till one-and-a-half minutes, with the two wrestlers only trying to get a measure of each other. The Mongolian was put on activity clock, but Sonam scored a push-out point to take a 1-0 lead and kept the advantage till the end of the first three-minute period.
Another push put her 2-0 in front. Sonam did not let the Mongolian make any move for a major part, but Bolortuya managed to get the take-down.