Junior Asian Wrestling Championships: Divya Kakran narrowly misses out on gold after disappointing final display

Modified Jul 20, 2018 15:20 IST

What's the story?

It was a feeling of deja vu for young Divya Kakran on the podium of the Junior Asian Wrestling Championships in New Delhi. After roaring her way into the finals of the tournament, it was expected that Kakran would exorcise her demons from a year prior, when the 20-year-old fell short of a gold medal on the final hurdle, losing to Japanese wrestler Sara Dosho.

However, there were tears of disappointment yet again for the Indian wrestler, as her mental block against foreign wrestlers came back to haunt her. The Uttar Pradesh native couldn't muster up a single point against Kyrgyzstan wrestler Meerim Zhumanazarova on her home turf, resulting in a heartbreaking loss for the promising youngster.

In case you didn't know...

Divya Kakran was widely tipped to be India's top prospect at the Championships following her impressive showing last year in the tournament. She built herself up by subsequently winning three straight golds at the All India University Championship, Senior National Championship and Commonwealth Wrestling Championship which was held in Johannesburg.

The heart of the matter

Divya used her trademark kalaganj move to good effect on her way to the final, a swift maneuver where she grabs the leg and arm of her opponent and tosses her over the back and head, but was unable to get a grip on her tough Kyrgyz opponent who defended admirably and had an answer for everything the Indian threw at her.

This wasn't the first time that Meerim had defeated Divya either, with the former picking up a win at the Senior Asian Championships in February. Despite the silver medal, India will take solace from the fact that fellow wrestlers Karuna and Reena won bronze at the same event.