Nisha Dahiya's Olympic campaign ends due to severe shoulder injury in quarterfinal against North Korea's Pak Sol Gum.
Paris: India wrestler Nisha Dahiya suffered a severe injury during her quarter-final match in the women’s 68 kg event against North Korea’s Pak Sol Gum at the Paris Olympics.
Nisha’s campaign at the Paris Olympics concluded after she suffered a heartbreaking 8-10 loss to Sol Gum. At one point, she was leading by 8-1, but she suffered a shoulder injury during the match and had to take some medical timeouts.
She was visibly in pain, and Sol Gum took advantage of her opponent’s injury. Nisha, who was ahead in the match, battled through pain and adopted a defensive approach to protect her lead. However, the 18-year-old Sol Gum went on the offence and scripted a comeback to move into the semi-finals.
Nisha broke down in tears after the defeat, and she was taken for an MRI to detect the extent of the injury. The Indian Olympic Association (IOA) confirmed that Nisha sustained a shoulder injury and her treatment will be planned after further tests.
“Wrestler Nisha sustained a severe shoulder injury during her bout today. It required reduction and MRI. She has been ruled out of the competition. The course of her treatment will be planned after further tests are performed,” the IOA said in a statement.
Sol Gum later in the day lost to the United States grappler Amit Elor in the semi-finals via technical superiority. This ended Nisha’s chance to compete for a bronze medal through the repechage round.
In the round of 16, Nisha defeated Tetiana Sova by 6-4 at the Champs de Mars Arena. Nisha made it to the quarter-finals in her Olympic debut.
Sova led 4-1 after the first round, but Nisha fought back in the second round to get five more points and turn around the contest in her favour.
At the Paris Olympics, six Indian wrestlers were fielded to compete for medals. Two-time Olympian Vinesh Phogat will take in the women’s 50 kg category on Tuesday, having featured in 48 kg in the Rio 2016 Olympics and 53 kg in the Tokyo Olympics 2020.
Antim Panghal, who won the Asian Games bronze last year, will make her debut at the Olympics in the women’s 53 kg category. She secured her quota for the Olympics with a World Championships bronze medal last year.
Commonwealth Games silver medallist Anshu Malik (women’s 57kg) and U-23 world champion Reetika Hooda (women’s 76kg) are the other Indian wrestlers who will compete in the Olympics for the first time.
Aman Sehrawat will be India’s sole representative in men’s wrestling, competing in freestyle wrestling. An Asian Games bronze medalist, he will be in action during the men’s 57 kg freestyle wrestling.
India has secured seven wrestling medals at the Olympics: two silver and five bronze.
