Wrestlers lose grip on medal hopes in Asian Games

via CAAI

Wednesday, 24 November 2010 15:00 H S Manjunath

It took exactly nine minutes and 52 seconds for Kazakhstan powerhouse Nurmakhan Tinaliyev to humble Cambodia’s Chum Chivinn by way of a fall in their men’s 120kg Greco-Roman wrestling bout at the Huagong Gymnasium in Guangzhou yesterday.

The Kazakh wrestler’s superiority was driven home in the first period, when he reeled off four technical points to Chum Chivinn’s none. With the pressure from strong holds piling up, the Cambodian’s fall was inevitable as Tinaliyev set out on his way to the final, where he beat China’s Lui Deli to grab the gold medal.

Later yesterday, Chum Chivinn suffered his second disappointment, when he went down 3-0 to India’s Dharmender Dalal in the first round of the Men’s Greco-Roman 120kg Repechage event.

The Kingdom’s top heavyweight wrestler, who claimed silver at the SEA Games in Laos last year, has one last shot at a medal in the men’s 120kg freestyle tomorrow.

There was also no cheer for Cambodia’s other male wrestler Kang Dan Pisteth in the men’s 60kg freestyle last 16 round. Yemen’s Abdulrahman Farfhan dominated the first two periods with better techniques to run up seven technical points as Kang Danpiseth struggled to break the ice.

Approaching the 10-minute mark, the judges were clearly swayed by the Yemeni man’s mat-craft to award him the bout on points.

Cambodia’s female wrestlers are also set to take the mat, with Try Sothavy competing in the 48kg freestyle qualifiers tomorrow and teammate Chov Sotheara vying in the 55kg freestyle section on Friday.

Elsewhere at the track of Aoti Main Stadium in Guangzhou, Cambodia’s Sar Churpveasna will line up for the men’s 200m heats today in an attempt to erase the painful memories of his narrow miss in the 100m heats, where his personal best performance fell agonisingly short of qualification into the semifinals.