NEW DELHI, May 26:
Rajneesh turned out to be India’s best performer of the day as he clinched the gold medal in the freestyle 60kg category after Neha and Kamlesh bagged silver and bronze in their respective categories on the second day of the Hari Ram Grand Prix wrestling tournament here today.
It was a clinical performance by Rajneesh who, right from the beginning, looked in full control against his opponent, Kim Jin Cheol of Korea.
Swift in his movements, Rajneesh outmanoeuvred Kim to win the bout 3-0 2-0, much to the delight of the sparse crowd at the Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium.
But it was Rajneesh’s semi-final bout against Batasaikhan of Mongolia that hogged the limelight as he came back strongly in the second round after trailing initially. The win, surely, must have given him the confidence ahead of the final.
Earlier in the day, Neha won the silver medal in the 51kg category but Kamlesh had to be content with a bronze in 59 after going down to Hiromi Sakurai of Japan 1-1 0-1.
Just like day 1, it again seemed like India would fail to win a yellow metal.
But all that changed after Rajneesh took to the mat in the title clash.
Results: Men Freestyle 60 KG: 1. Rajneesh (IND), 2. Kim Jin Cheol (KOR), 3. Daniel (NGR) and Moradgholiei (IRI).
96 KG: 1. Kerashvili (GEO), 2. Yahkouski (BLR), 3. Anakulov (TJK) and Tahan (IRI).
120 KG: 1. Sakandelidze (GEO), 2. Dziatko (BLR), 3. Jung Yei (KOR) and Saeed Ahmad (PAK).
Women Freestyle: 51 KG: 1. Hiromi Sakurai (JPN), 2. Neha (IND), 3. Conder Whitney (USA), 4. Narepekha (UKR).(PTI)
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