Nitesh wins silver, India's wait for Greco Roman Asian Games champion continues

NAGOYA: India's wait to see a Greco Roman style Asian Games champion got delayed further as Nitesh Siwach settled for a silver medal after being outplayed by Japan's Yuri Nakazato here Thursday.

Nitesh tried a 'two-on-one grip' from the beginning, but the Japanese did not let the Indian make any attacking move, losing 0-4.

In 1962 Malwa Singh (52kg) and Ganpat Andalkar (+97kg) had won gold medals in Greco Roman style in Jakarta.

The Japanese pushed Nitesh out to open the scoring. Nitesh was put on ground position for passivity but he defended well, not letting Nakazato find a firm grip to effect a point-scoring gut wrench.

Nakazato ended the first period with 2-0 lead, keeping Nitesh in head lock position towards end. The local favourite disbalanced Nitesh with push and converted that move into a successful 'take down' to take the bout away from Nitesh, now leading 4-0.

With a minute to go, Nitesh needed to be attacking but Nakazato's defence did not let him.