Pooja Kadian wins country’s first ever gold in World Wushu Championships

Pooja Kadian clashed with Russian Evgeniya Stepanova in the final of the 75 kg women’s sanda category and clinched the very first gold medal for the country. Kadian had earlier defeated Egypt’s Heba Abdelkader 2-0 in the semifinals to reach the finals of the 14th edition of the World Wushu Championships being held in Kazan.  

Apart from Kadian, four other Indian players also landed on the podium with bronze medals. Rameshchandra Singh Moirangthem won a bronze medal in the men’s sanda 48 kg category. The semi-final match between him and China’s Wang Yongjie finished 0-0, however, the Yongjie was given a technical victory and eventually, won the gold medal. 

Bhanu Pratap Singh claimed a bronze medal in the men's sanda 60 kg category as well while Rajinder Singh won the same in the men's 90 kg category. He had defeated Russia’s Bozigit Ataev 2-1 to progress to the semi-finals, prior to getting thrashed 1-2 by Iran’s Milad Arefi. 

Arunpama Devi Keisham claimed a bronze in 65 kg sanda category in the women's section after thrashing Switzerland’s Pricilla Staubli 2-0 in the last-eight clash. 

Currently, China lead the medal tally with 15 gold medals with Iran in second place with eight gold medals so far.