Big day on the mat for Ford

New Zealand wrestler Tayla Ford had a busy day on the mat in the women’s 62kg division today with four bouts.

The 24-year-old New Zealander lost her first bout, to Michelle Fazzari of Canada 14-4 on points. It was 10-4 after the first round, and the Canadian then gained a winning advantage.

However, Ford bounced back well.

In her second outing she was too good for Berthe Etan Ngorle of Cameroon, winning by fall when leading 7-0.

Next up for Ford, she faced Nigerian Aminat Adeniyi, and found the going tough. The Nigerian led 11-0 to win on points.

That result meant she had a lot to wrestle for when she faced India’s Sakshi Malik in her final bout.

This one went right down to the wire and the Indian eked out a 6-5 points victory. At the end of the first period, it was 2-2 and there was little between the wrestlers in either round.

Ford finished fourth in her classification, and Malik third.

Toby Fitzpatrick was also in action today.

The New Zealander wrestled in the men’s 86kg division and went down to Syerus Eslami 9-8. Fitzpatrick began well and led 4-0 after the first period.

The second period was a titanic struggle. Fitzpatrick added four more points, but Eslami piled on 9 points to edge to a narrow victory.