India, Sept. 16 -- Sujeet Kalkal came close to toppling Paris Olympics silver medallist Rahman Mousa Amzoud Khalili of Iran before bowing out with a narrow 5-6 defeat while other Indians crashed out without much resistance on the third day of the World Championship, here Monday. Sujeet appeared to be better than the 2022 word champion in terms of endurance as the formidable Iranian barely managed to finish the bout as the Indian had enough strength even at the fag end of the a gruelling men's freestyle 65kg quarterfinal.

Sujeet did not score any point, or rather make any move, in the first period in which both wrestlers used their upper body strength. As the bout progressed, the Iranian was gasping even as he led 4-0 at the beginning of ...