2021 Asian Wrestling Championships | Ravi Dahiya, Vinesh Phogat claim top honours as India return with 14 medals
Vinesh Phogat is one of six wrestlers to have qualified for the 2021 Tokyo Olympics
|Ravi Kumar Dahiya along with four women claimed Gold medals each in their respective events as India ended the ongoing Asian Wrestling Championship, in Almaty, with 14 in their tally. Deepak Punia, who was also aiming for a top-finish, lost to Iran’s Hassan Yazdani in the Gold medal match.
Tokyo-bound wrestler Ravi Kumar Dahiya (57kg) overcame Iran’s Alireza Sarlak to claim top honours in the 57kg event, while compatriot Bajrang Punia (65kg), who was also eyeing a top-prize, pulled out of the final after suffering an injury in the recently concluded Asian Wrestling Championships, in Almaty, Kazakhstan.Â
Deepak Punia, the third men’s grappler making the Tokyo cut, fell prey to Iran’s Hassan Yazdani in the final of the 86kg category. Among the others, Karan Mor (70kg), 2012 London Olympian Narsingh Yadav (79kg), Sanjeet (92kg) and Satyawart Kadian (97kg) all claimed Bronze medals to further inflate India’s medals tally at the event.
Among the women, it was a clean sweep for Olympic-bound grapplers Vinesh Phogat (53kg) and Anshu Malik (57kg), having claimed top podium finishes each, while Sarita Mor (59kg) and Divya Kakran (72kg) completed India’s collection of five Gold medals.
Olympic Bronze medallist Sakshi Malik, settled for a Silver medal in her 65kg category, having lost to Mongolia’s Zorigtyn Bolortungalag in the summit clash. On the other hand, Pooja Sihag (76kg) and Seema Bisla (50kg) finished as third-best in their respective categories.Â
