India's Sandeep Tomar put up a gallant fight before being beaten 7-3 by two-time world champion Viktor Lebedev of Russia in the round of 16 for men's freestyle 57kg wrestling in Rio de Janeiro on Friday. Lebedev was beaten 6-1 in the quarterfinals by Hassan Rahimi of Iran, thus ruling Sandeep out of fighting for the bronze via repechage.
The wrestlers started the bout on a cautious note, with Lebedev keen on maintaining distance from his younger opponent. At the 70-second mark, Sandeep was penalised for passivity, and he was required to score within the next 30 seconds to avoid being docked the first point. The debutant from India made two attempts at breaking Lebedev's defence -- first looking to slip in from behind and then going for a single leg lock -- but Lebedev stood firm to take a 1-0 lead. A short while later, Sandeep went on the attack and used his upper-body strength to edge Lebedev close to the edge of the mat, but Lebedev was able to counter and pick up two more points, taking a 3-0 lead into the break between the three-minute periods.
It didn't take Lebedev long to widen the gap between the two early in the second period, this time holding Sandeep by the leg and pushing him out to earn two more points. At 5-0 down, Sandeep fought back with a sequence of thee points -- one for pushing Lebedev out of the mat, and then two for gaining control over him as soon as he re-entered. But with a minute left and the score at 5-3, Sandeep's next attack was converted into a two-point move by Lebedev.
It was 7-3 with 60 seconds on the clock, and Sandeep repeatedly tried to engage Lebedev in a leg lock, but the Russian kept his composure to see himself through to the quarterfinals.