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Paris: Indian wrestler Nisha Dahiya stood on the verge of assuring the nation a fourth medal at the Paris Olympics after she made a stupendous start to her campaign in the 68kg freestyle category. After beating Ukraine’s Sova Rizhko 6-4 in the opening round, the Asian Championships silver medallist roared to a seven-point lead in the quarterfinal match against North Korea’s Pak Sol-gum, thus standing two points away from a semifinal qualification on her debut appearance at the Games. However, Nisha incurred a freak injury on her arm and hand, resulting in her dream of winning an Olympic medal being shattered.
However, on the second stoppage, Dahiya — holding an 8-2 lead with 33 seconds left — held her right wrist. When the match resumed for the third time, Pak scored six quick points and levelled the score. With 12 seconds remaining, Dahiya’s right shoulder was attended to during yet another stoppage. The North Korean then went for a takedown with seven seconds on the clock and thus completed a 10-8 win to make the semis.
Nisha, who was left inconsolable as she broke down in tears after the loss, was immediately rushed to a medical facility inside the Games Village for scan.
The unfortunate injury did shatter Nisha’s dream in Paris, but Indian national team coach Virender Dahiya reckoned that it was an “intentional” act from the North Korean corner. Speaking to news agency PTI after the match, Virender accused the opponents of sending instructions to injure Nisha in a bid to gain advantage and subsequently rob India of a medal.
“It was 100 percent intentional, they hurt her intentionally. We had seen, there was an instruction from the Korean corner. They attacked the joint. They have taken away the medal from her,” he said.
“The way Nisha had started, the medal was in her neck and it has been taken away. The attacks were clear, the counter-attack worked and the defence was compact. She had beaten the same wrestler at the Asian Qualifier, there was no way Nisha was losing this.”
There was still hope for Nisha to win a medal in Paris, for which she needed Pak to beat American Amit Elor in the semifinals to give her a chance to remain in the tournament via repechage and possibly fight for bronze. But Elor demolished Pak 10-0 in under two minutes to advance to the final.
The Indian Olympic Association (IOA) later 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.
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