New Delhi: Nisha Dahiya was cruising through her Olympics quarter-final bout against Pak Sol Gum of North Korea but dramatically ended on the losing side after a shoulder injury and left the mat in tears and pain.

Competing in 68kg class, Nisha, the Asian Championships silver medallist, started on an attacking note and comfortably led 6-1 in the first period. She went up 8-1 after a brilliant counter in the second period but hurt her finger in the process. Till then Nisha was looking good to sail through but tragedy struck twice on the mat for her.

With a minute left, she was in pain holding her hand and took time out for treatment. Back on the mat after taping her finger, Nisha was pushed out of bounds by 18-year-old Sol who was now applying great pressure on the Indian sensing an opportunity. Sol went for an underhook and dragged Nisha down. It was in this move that Nisha was badly hurt. She clutched her hand and groaned in pain. Officials asked whether she would like to continue. Nisha came back once again and Sol immediately locked her in a firm grip, bringing her down on the mat and rolled her over for six points.

Scores were levelled but Nisha was still ahead on criteria and bravely stayed on the mat to fight with just 12 secs left on the clock. Another swift attack by Sol gave her a lucky 10-8 win and ended Nisha’s hopes of advancing to the semi-final. She just could not believe her fate and stood there sobbing.

It was learnt that Nisha was immediately taken to the hospital. An Indian coach in Paris said it seemed she had dislocated her shoulder and fractured her finger.

The incident reminded one of Vinesh Phogat’s knee injury on the mat at the 2016 Rio Olympics that ended her campaign.

Earlier, Nisha defeated Tetiana Sova Rizhko of Ukraine in her opening bout. Going for a fast attack, Nisha was quick to open her account but Rizhko bounced back with four points and held the lead 4-1. Nisha stepped up her attack but Rizhko, the European champion, defended well. At the start of second period Nisha pushed her opponent out of bounds for a point and then scored two more points from a takedown, closing the gap to 4-3. In the dying stages, Nisha went all out with her attack and scored another takedown for a 6-4 victory.

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