Maharjan lost his match against Dinesh Kumar of India, the 12th seeded player in the championship which is being held in Baku, Azerbaijanon.[break]
Kumar defeated Maharjan 20-8 in the men´s 81 kg (light heavy) weight category. This is the second defeat of Maharjan from Kumar. In their earlier encounter, Kumar had defeated Maharjan 7-1 during the semifinal of the Asiad held in Guangzhou, China last year.
Nepal had high hopes from Maharjan to qualify for the London Olympics 2012. Despite Wednesday´s loss, Maharjan still has a chance to qualify for the Olympics through the Asian Qualifiers.
Kumar had established a comprehensive 10-3 lead in the first round. He added five more points in the second round against two points of Maharjan. Kumar´s scored five more points in the final round as registered a comfortable victory.
After the match, Maharjan´s coach, Prachanda Sharma said that he had given a tough challenge to Kumar. “Maharjan´s game was much better than in the Asiad.”
Another pugilist of Nepal Sudesh Manandhar will compete in the men´s 52 kg (fly) weight category on October 2. Manandhar had received a walk over in the first round of the championship.
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