Nur-Sultan (Kazakhstan): Young wrestler Deepak Punia on Sunday pulled out of the World Championship 86 kg title clsh against Iranian great Hazsan Yazdani due to an ankle injury sustained during the semifinal bout.
"The left foot is not taking the load. It's difficult to fight in this condition. I know it was a big chance to fight against Yazdani, but I can't help it," Deepak told PTI.
The 20-year-old will have to be content with a silver medal in his debut senior World Championship.
Deepak had come out of the mat limping and with a swollen right eye after his semifinal against Switzerland's Stefan Reichmuth on Saturday.
In a dream run, Deepak reached the final with wins over Reichmuth, Colombia's Carlos Arturo Mendez and Kazakhstan's Adilet Davlumbayev.
It was a good draw for Deepak and he exploited it to land the biggest medal of his career. Only last year, he had won the junior world championship title.
Sushil Kumar remains India's only world champion. He had won a gold in 66kg in 2010 World Championship in Moscow.
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