Sports Desk (Gurpreet Singh)— Vishvajit More etched his name into Indian sports history on Thursday, becoming the nation’s first Greco-Roman wrestler to secure a silver medal at the U23 World Wrestling Championships after an intense, high-scoring final against Georgia’s Koba Karumidze.
Already a two-time bronze medalist at the U23 world level, More fell agonizingly short of a historic gold in an electrifying 12-13 defeat to Karumidze. The Indian grappler showcased commanding form throughout his tournament run, opening his campaign with a hard-fought 10-8 win over Mexico’s Isaac Marin Mata before defeating Iranian U20 world champion Armin Shamsipour 8-1 in the quarterfinals. During that bout, More executed a decisive four-point roll that aggravated a left shoulder injury for Shamsipour, leaving the Iranian unable to mount a resistance following a medical timeout. More maintained his composed momentum in the semifinals, fending off Russia’s Malik Gigiev 7-4 to secure his place in the final.
India’s other Greco-Roman contenders could not match More’s medal pace, as Chetan (63kg) exited in the pre-quarterfinals and Karan Kamboj (87kg) suffered a technical superiority loss during his qualification match.
In the women’s freestyle division, India remains poised for podium finishes despite mixed results on the mats. Komal conceded her semifinal match by technical superiority to Ukraine’s Alina Filipovych and will now compete in the bronze-medal playoff, while Diksha Malik (76kg) also stayed alive in the race for bronze through repechage contention. Meanwhile, Mansi Lather (68kg) suffered a heartbreaking quarterfinal exit against Italy’s Laura Godino, falling 9-10. Trailing 1-8 at one stage, Lather launched a sensational eight-point surge to seize a 9-8 lead, only for Godino to execute a decisive two-point double-leg takedown with just four seconds remaining to seal victory by a solitary point.
