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Vinesh Phogat leads India's golden charge as Asian wrestling meet
Anshu Malik, Divya Kakran too finish first but Sakshi Malik gets silver.
World No.1 Vinesh Phogat made the most of a depleted field in the women’s 53kg to win her maiden gold medal of the Asian Wrestling Championships in Almaty, Kazakhstan, on Friday. A medal prospect for the Tokyo Games, Phogat was on the top of her game with little under 100 days remaining for the Olympics. It was her third title on trot since returning to international competition after the pandemic forced break.
The withdrawal of Japanese Mayu Mukaida, who has beaten the Indian at the world championships and last edition's Asian championships, denied Phogat strong competition. Also missing was world championships’ bronze medallist Pang Qianyu of China..
Denying an opening to her rivals, Phogat won her first two bouts by technical superiority against Mongolian Otgonjargal Ganbaatar (11-0) and Chinese Taipei's Meng Hsuan Hsieh (12-0). She then came back to pin down Hsieh in the final. Hsieh attacked her leg but Phogat, leading 6-0, defended well and swiftly changed position to pull her down for a pin in the first period. Her opponent reeled under Vinesh’s strong locks. An Asian Games champion Phogat will be happy to finally win gold in the continental championships after three silver and four bronze medals starting from 2013.
Last month Phogat won gold at the Outstanding Ukrainian Wrestlers and Coaches Memorial tournament in Kiev and the title at the Matteo Pellicone Ranking Series in Rome.
A week after sealing an Olympic quota, there was no stopping 19-year-old Anshu Malik. Malik was fearless as she went for her attacks demolishing Sevara Eshmuratova of Uzbekistan 11-0 and Nazira Marsbek of Kyrgyzstan 10-0. She followed it up with another big victory against Mongolian Altantsetseg Battsetseg 9-1 in the semi-final. In the final, Battsetseg threw a strong challenge but Malik showed good composure to win 3-0.
Having lost her place in the 68kg Olympic category to Nisha Dahiya, Divya Kakran came back strongly to claim the 72kg category gold. Kakran had Covid-19 in December but showed her old spark and clinched India's fourth gold medal in the women's competition. In the four-women draw, she won two bouts through fall against Tsevegmed Enkhbayar of Mongolia and Sujin Park of Korea. Her next bout against defending champion Kazakhstan's Zhamila Bakbergenova was the most challenging but Kakran kept taking points for a 8-5 victory. It was her second gold medal at the Asian meet, having won in 68kg last year here.
With India yet to qualify in the 68kg weight class, Kakran would be eyeing a slot in the World Olympic qualifier next month.
Rio Olympics bronze medallist Sakshi Malik, competing in the non-Olympic 65kg category, lost to Mongolia's Zorigt Bolortungalag by fall in the final. She beat Korean Hanbit Lee in the semi-final with a pin, Gaukhar Muktay of Kazakhstan (10-0) and Taipei's Hsin Pin (10-0) through technical fall in the earlier rounds.
