Under-23 World Championship silver medalist and debutant Pooja Gehlot won the women’s 50kg . won a bronze medal in
Under-23 World Championship silver medalist and debutant Pooja Gehlot won the women’s 50kg . won a bronze medal in
Leaving mental and physical struggles behind, Vinesh Phogat patted her rivals to complete a hat-trick of CWG gold medals, while Ravi Dahiya also went non-stop at his gold-winning show in Birmingham on August 6, 2022. ,
Vinesh became the first Indian woman wrestler to win three consecutive Commonwealth Games gold medals.
Hoping to have a tough opener against World Championships bronze medalist Samantha Leigh Stewart, Vinesh cut it down to no contest and finished it in just 36 seconds.
Vinesh had a Canadian in his head, from where he pushed her to the mat and pinned her opponent in no time.
Before people were ready for the competition, it was all over.
Next up for 27-year-old Vinesh was Nigeria’s Mercy Bolafunoluwa Adekuoroye, who tried to resist a bit, but was soon ironed by the Indian. Vinesh held her in that position for more than a minute in a scintillating display of power, winning 6-0.
With only four wrestlers in the women’s 53kg draw, Vinesh now needed to beat Sri Lanka’s Chamodya Keshani Maduravalge Don and won it in style, winning ‘by fall’ to win her third consecutive gold medal.
Vinesh has been battling for form and fitness since her loss at the Tokyo Games, where she was knocked out in the first round after entering the field as the most favored player for the gold medal.
Tokyo Games silver medalist Ravi was also very good for the 57kg field. He won both his matches – against Suraj Singh of New Zealand and Asad Ali of Pakistan – in the finals by technical superiority.
Nigeria’s Abikevenimo Welson showed intent to fight in the final but the level at which Ravi was wrestling was a tough task.
Ravi foiled a right-footed attack and in the Nigerian’s next attempt, he scored a counter-attack, affecting the take-down move with ease.
Soon he trapped Wellson leg-less and rolled him three times to take an 8-0 lead. Ravi completes the formality with another take-down.
Apart from this, Naveen (74kg) is also fighting for the gold, having started with TSU victories over Nigeria’s Ogbona Emmanuel John, Singapore’s Hong Yew Lu and England’s Charlie James Bowling.
He will next face Pakistan’s Tahir Muhammad Sharif.
In the women’s 50kg, Pooja Gehlot started off confidently with a TSU win over Scotland’s Christelle Lemoffac Lechidzio and then walked over to easily make the semi-finals from Cameroon’s Rebecca Ndolo Muambo.
However, she lost to Canada’s Madison Bianca Parks 6-9 in a last-four clash and will now fight for bronze against the Scottish player. Since only six wrestlers were included in this category, it was competed in the Nordic style, where all wrestlers were divided into two groups, competing against each other at once.
Pooja Sihag (76kg) is also in the race to win a bronze medal. She will face Naomi De Bruyne of Australia.
In men’s freestyle 97kg, Deepak Nehra will fight for bronze. He will face Pakistan’s Tyeb Raza.