Deepak Punia settles for silver as India end junior World Wrestling championship without gold
India’s Deepak Punia had to make do with a silver medal in the final of the 86 kg freestyle category of junior worlds as he was beaten by Turkey’s Arif Ozen by a score of 1-2 on Sunday in Slovakia. India ended the championship with seven medals, including four silvers and three bronze medals.
Deepak Punia put in a strong performance en route to the final of the 86 kg category final in Slovakia as he comfortably defeated Moldova’s Ivan Nedealco with a 6-2 win in the semis. He was India’s sole contender for a gold medal at the international showdown in Trnava.
However, Punia was beaten 1-2 by Ozen in a closely contested final. Punia, who won the gold medal in the junior Asian Games, scored his sole point with three seconds left on the clock.Â
A lot was expected from fellow compatriot Sachin Rathi who was outplayed in the 74kg bronze medal match, as he lost by technical superiority to Canada's Devid Betanov. In the 92kg category, Sanjeet failed to make the medal round as he suffered a 6-7 loss in the repechage round to Erhan Yaylaci.
In Greco Roman, Vijay (60kg) and Sajan (77kg) won a silver medal each while Vijay (55kg) also secured a bronze medal.
In the women's wrestling events, Mansi (57kg) and Anshu Malik (59) won a bronze medal each as India ended the junior worlds with a tally of seven medals, which included four silver medals and three bronze medals.
