NEW DELHI, Apr 20: Amit Kumar clinched a gold in men’s 55kg category while three other grapplers bagged a bronze each to end two days of disappointment for India in the Senior Asian Wrestling Championship here today.
Amit, who won a bronze in last year’s edition, trounced North Korea’s Kyong Yang II 1-0 5-2 in a grueling duel despite carrying a head injury into the summit clash to open India’s gold medal account in the championships.
In the women’s category, Vinesh (51kg) and Babita Kumari (55kg) won their bronze medal bouts while Bajrang (men’s 60kg) pocketed a bronze, to end the day three of the championships on a high after two medal-less days. All the Indian wrestlers in action today secured a medal each.
Wearing a red singlet, Amit received an early warning from the referee in trying to get a grip of his opponent in his final bout. The warning, however, did not deter the 20-year-old, as he skillfully attacked the Korean to score the first point.
A medical timeout was given to Amit who was bleeding from the wound, which he sustained during his semifinal clash. The brave lad maintained the advantage to win first period 1-0.
The second period gave some edge-of-the-seat excitement for the sizeable crowd at K D Jadhav Wrestling Stadium as the two wrestlers were locked in a gripping contest.
Amit manoeuvred to throw down in the third period to open his account. The diminutive Indian wrestler went on to take a 4-0 lead. The Korean tried hard to match the local favourite and gained two points. However, he lost steam in the end and had to satisfy with the silver medal.
The bronze medals went to Iran’s Rassul Kaliyev and Nomin Batbold of Mongolia.
“There were lot of expectations from me and I am happy that I have delivered,” Amit said after his gold-medal bout.
“When I was on the mat I forgot about my injury. I just wanted to win the bout. I had watched Kyong’s semifinal bout. I knew he would attack my left leg and I did not allow him to bend too down to do that,” the London Olympics quarterfinalist added. (PTI)
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