NEW DELHI, June 18: Hosts India made a good beginning to their medal-hunt in the Mahindra Tractors 11th World Cadet Freestyle Wrestling Championships at the Indira Gandhi Stadium here on Wednesday by sending three grapplers into the semi-finals. Anil Kumar Mann (83kg), Ashok Kumar (69kg) and Sunil Kumar (42kg) won two bouts each while getting a bye, in their respective weight categories.

The Delhi team (the second Indian squad in the competition) also made a good beginning with Ram Parvesh (42kg), Joginder (48kg) and Naresh (69kg) moving into the fourth round. Munna Lal entered the third round in 83kg.

Sunil Kumar, a gold medal winner at the Cadet Nationals (Udaipur) last year and winner of Rural Games at Hissar earlier this year, won the first round by fall and got a second-round bye. In the third round, Sunil beat RPSN Shedoz (Aze) 8-4. At the end of the day, Sunil, who is coached by Raj Singh Chikara at Acharya Vijay Pal akhara, expressed confidence of winning a medal for the country.

Copyright © 1997 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.