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Wrestling nationals: Sandeep emerges surprise champion in 74kg; Narsingh loses early
Narsingh Pancham Yadav, returning to action after four years of doping suspension, had a very good start as he defeated young Gaurav Baliyan, the defending champion, without breaking much sweat (10-0), but lost a close bout to Dhankar (4-3) in the next round.
Sandeep Singh of Punjab emerged as the surprise champion in the star-studded 74kg category, rallying to beat Asian Championships silver medallist Jitender Kumar 3-2 in the final of Senior National Wrestling Championships (freestyle) in Noida on Saturday.
In the final, Sandeep was lagging behind 1-2 with 30 seconds left on the clock. A swift leg attack saw the Punjab wrestler score two points to edge past Jitender. Earlier, Sandeep was relentless in his attack against Amit Dhankar in the quarter-final and won with technical superiority. In the semi-final he got the better of Vinod.
Narsingh Pancham Yadav, returning to action after four years of doping suspension, had a very good start as he defeated young Gaurav Baliyan, the defending champion, without breaking much sweat (10-0), but lost a close bout to Dhankar (4-3) in the next round. A last-minute counterattack by Dhankar saw him turn the tables on Narsingh. Dhankar and Vijay of Haryana won bronze medals in the 74kg.
In other results, Pankaj won gold in 57kg, Ravinder in 61, Praveen in 92kg, and Sumit in 125kg.
