Former greco-roman world champion bows out

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Sydney: Former greco-roman world champion Alfred Ter-Mkrtchyan of Germany bowed out of the Olympics 54 kg division with a win on Tuesday but without a medal.

The 1995 world title holder, narrowly beaten in Monday's quarter-finals, took fifth place after crushing Wang Hui of China 6-0.

Fourth, fifth and sixth places were settled on Tuesday morning, with losers from Monday's two quarter-finals fighting over the minor placings.

In the 63 kg category, Bakhodir Kurbanov of Uzbekistan was a convincing winner against Kevin Bracken of the United States.

The dominant Kurbanov led 6-0 before finishing off the American with a three-point throw that also earned a bonus point for good technique. That gave the Uzbek a 10-0 lead and a victory by technical superiority.

Kim Jin-Soo of South Korea won almost as easily in his battle for fifth spot against Sweden's Ara Abrahamian in the 76 kg class.

Kim won nine points during the bout but couldn't finish off his opponent, having to wait until the end of the six-minute contest to be assured of victory.

Genadi Chkhaidze of Georgia took the final fifth place finish of the session in the 97 kg category ahead of Sergey Matviyenko of Kazakhstan.

The tightest bout of the morning, it needed a referee's decision to separate the fighters after nine minutes of wrestling failed to break the deadlock.

The two were locked at 1-1 after the regulation two three-minute rounds and a further three minutes of over-time wasn't enough to separate them.