Olympics 2024 | They hurt her intentionally: Nisha Dahiya's coach Virender accuses North Korea of robbing India's medal

After Indian grappler Nisha Dahiya lost her quarterfinal bout against North Korea's Pak Sol Gum 8-10 in the women's 68 kg freestyle category at the Paris Olympics on Monday, the Indian national team's coach Virender Dahiya said that it was intentional.

Calling it as an 'intentional act' from the North Korean player, Virender told PTI that the opponent was sent instructions to intentionally injure Nisha.

He said, "It was 100 per cent intentional, they hurt her intentionally. We had seen, there was an instruction from the Korean corner. They attacked the joint. They have taken away the medal from her."

Virender added, "The way Nisha had started, the medal was in her neck, and it has been taken away. The attacks were clear, the counterattack worked and the defence was compact. She had beaten the same wrestler at the Asian Qualifier, there was no way Nisha was losing this," Virender added.

Leading 8-1 at one point in time with just over 90 seconds left, Nisha sustained a serious injury on her right hand, which left her in agonising pain as she wept inconsolably.

After a medical break, Nisha didn't have any strength left in her right hand and it became a cakewalk for the North Korean player, who continued her ruthless streak to get a leg-hold and nine straight points.

In fact, with 10 seconds left, the scoreline was 8-8 but the writing was on the wall as Nisha surrendered in the dying moments without a fight.

Earlier, Nisha had won her opening bout against Ukraine's Sova Rizhko 6-4 as the wrestling competition got underway at the Games.

India's only entry in the heavyweight category, Nisha is an Asian Championships' silver medallist and got the better of her opponent from Ukraine without much trouble.

With PTI inputs