Hardeep loses his Greco-Roman first bout in Rio

Rio de Janeiro, Aug 16 (IANS) Wrestler Hardeep Singh crashed out of the men's Greco-Roman 98 kg 1/8 Final after losing to Turkey's Cenk Ildem 1-2 on points at the Rio Olympics here on Tuesday.

The first period began with both the wrestlers failing to gain any advantage before the 30-year-old Turk was penalised. But Hardeep did not take the advantage leaving both scoreless.

Two minutes into the first period, Hardeep was penalised for a foul and Ildem made the most of it to lead 2-0.

The second period started with a warning to Ildem, which gave the 25-year-old Indian a point. In the last 30 seconds, both wrestlers looked to overcome each other in vain, sealing the deal in favour of the Turkish grappler.

Hardeep's elimination has brought down the curtains on India's campaign in the Greco-Roman category after Ravinder Khatri lost to Hungary's Viktor Lorincz by technical superiority in 85kg on Monday.