Revision as of 21:28, 22 October 2018

Indian achievers at World Championships

1967-2013

1967 New Delhi:

Bishamber Singh (57kg silver)

2009 Denmark:

Ramesh Kumar (74kg bronze)

2010 Moscow:

Sushil Kumar (66kg gold)

2012 Canada:

Geeta Phogat (55kg bronze),

Babita Kumari (51kg bronze)

2013 Budapest:

Amit Kumar (55kg silver),

Bajrang (60kg bronze),

Sandeep Tulsi Yadav (66kg bronze)

Greco-Roman wrestling in India

Sandeep's bronze gives hope to ignored Greco-Roman

Ritu Sejwal, TNN | Sep 24, 2013

Greco-Roman is backed by a rich history in the Olympics, being the first style to be introduced in 1896 Athens Olympics. In India, where akharas are the heart of the sport and dangals its soul, Greco-Roman, also referred to as the European style, is yet to cement its place in the country.

Sandeep Tulsi Yadav's bronze medal at Budapest in Sept 2013 was the first in World championship for India in Greco-Roman wrestling.

Gyan Sehrawat, a Greco-Roman chief coach from 1996-2006, feels Yadav's medal will give a boost to this style. "The medal will change the psychology from just participating to winning medals, at least in the Olympics and World championships. Most of the talent in India gets attracted to freestyle. Greco requires upper body strength and flexibility and is more popular worldwide," Sehrawat, who is the chief coach and a sports officer with the Northern Railways, told TOI.

"This style is not practised at any club in India. It was as late as 1986 that a separate Greco team was selected. Till then, the freestyle team would participate in both the styles," he added.

Gyan himself participated as a freestyle grappler in 1982 Asian Games and as a Greco grappler in his next Asian Games in 1986.

"Even now, 99% of the coaches in India are not familiar with Greco techniques. Even the National Sports Institute in Patiala's curriculum for coaches focuses on freestyle. Indian wrestling is to do with mitti and that's why freestyle is more popular," he said. "There is only one tournament in a year dedicated to Greco," he pointed out.

Foreign coaches

Indian wrestling's lone entry at the Sydney Olympics, Gurbinder Singh, holds the system responsible for the style's lack of popularity. "We spend so much money on getting foreign coaches for Greco-Roman but they don't train our wrestlers properly and never tell then their weaknesses. All they do is teach a technique and then say 'you know nothing'. There is no dearth of diet, money and promotion. It's the system which is a problem," Gurbinder, became a DSP with Punjab police, said.

Belarus' Rudnisky was Greco-Roman's first foreign coach. There have been only three foreign coaches - including the current coach Georgia's Emzar Makharadze - since then while freestyle has had more than seven coaches. "It was in 1987, when we got our first foreign coach. It was under him that a separate Greco camp and national meet was organized. There is only one akhara in Faridkot dedicated to Greco-Roman, the ones in Delhi and Haryana practice freestyle," Gurbinder said.

Gurbinder said about Sandeep’s triumph: "The change in rule has favoured the Indians, who are used to 'standing wrestling' due to the weather. Earlier there was more ground style which would benefit the Russians."

2015

Pro Wrestling League auction

The Times of India, November 4, 2015

Successful bids at Pro Wrestling League’s auction, 2015; Graphic courtesy: The Times of India, November 4, 2015

Ritu Sejwal

Dutt top Indian pick in wrestling auction

The wrestling fraternity joined the league bandwagon with over 50 Indian and international grapplers put up for auction for six franchises in the capital. London Olympics bronze medalist Yogeshwar Dutt emerged the highest-paid Indian while 2015 World Championship gold medalist Oksana Herhel of Ukraine was the top international draw in the auction for the Pro Wrestling League. Yogeshwar and Oksana were picked by Haryana for Rs 39.70 lakh and Rs 41.30 lakh, respectively. Two-time Olympic medalist Sushil Kumar, who got the secondhighest bid after Yogeshwar, went to Uttar Pradesh for Rs 38.20 lakh.Belarus' Vasilisa Marzaliuk (69kg), with base price of Rs 23 lakh, was a surprise pick by Punjab as she earned Rs 40.20 lakh.

Sushil Kumar, Yogeshwar Dutt, Narsingh Yadav, Geeta Phogat, Sofia Mattison and Adeline Gray were the icon players whose base price was Rs 33 lakh.

“I had not given the auction much thought but I am happy it went well. Wrestling league will change the way people look at the sport and bring more popularity .Youngsters will benefit and new champions will emerge,“ Yogesh war told TOI on Tuesday .

“After Beijing and London Olympics, a lot of young kids have taken to wrestling. But many still think wrestling is a village sport and I am sure this (league) will change that mindset. Wrestlers who come from weak financial backgrounds will be able to use this money for better training and diet,“ he added. When asked about getting a winning bid more than Sushil Kumar, Yogeshwar said, “May be they liked me. I always wanted to go to Haryana.“

A total of 54 wrestlers were purchased by six franchises, with price purse of Rs 2 crore each, including Delhi, Punjab, Haryana, Mumbai, Bengaluru and Uttar Pradesh.Each team consists of nine players including five Indians and four international players. Haryana were the biggest spenders with Rs 1.96 crore, followed by Punjab who spent Rs 1.85 crore.

In the tournament, to be held from December 10-27, each team will be allowed to field five Indians and four international players, including five men and four women.

World Championship bronze medalist Narsingh Yadav, who went to Bengaluru, earned the third highest bid for an Indian at Rs 34.50 lakh while Geeta Phogat was picked by Punjab for Rs 33 lakh. Her sister Babita, with base price of Rs 23 lakh, and Vinesh, with base price of Rs 20 lakh, were picked by UP and Delhi for Rs 34.10 lakh and Rs 29.70 lakh, respectively . Geetika Jakhar (69kg) went home at her base price of Rs 10 lakh.

World Championship bronze medalist Bajrang, whose base price was Rs 23 lakh, was purchased by Bengaluru for Rs 29.50 lakh.

“The league will help us prepare better for Olympic qualification. By competing against and watching experienced wrestlers, we will have a better understanding of attack and defence, and it will help us improve our technique,“ said Bajrang.

2016

United World Wrestling rankings

Sep 13 2016: in the men's freestyle category , Sandeep Tomar was placed at 15th position in the UWW (United World Wrestling) rankings.

Sep 13 2016 Bajrang Punia made it to the top-20 list in the UWW (United World Wrestling) rankings.

2017

The best players

February 16, 2018: The Times of India

SAKSHI MALIK

Silver (60 kg) at the Asian Championship, losing to Japan’s Risk Kawao. Gold (62kg) at Commonwealth Wrestling Championships. Gold (62kg) at the National Wrestling Championships.

SARITA MOR

Silver medal (58 kg) at the Asian Wrestling Championship in New Delhi, losing to Krygyztan’s Aisuluu Tynybekova. Silver medal (59kg) at the National Wrestling Championships.

BAJRANG PUNIA

Gold medal (65 kg freestyle) at the Asian Wrestling Championship in New Delhi, beating South Korea’s Seungchul Lee 6-2. Beat Kukgwang Kim 3-2 in the semi-finals and previous Asian Championship goldmedallist Meisam Nassiri 7-5 in the quarters. Gold medal (65kg freestyle) at the Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games in Ashgabat, beating Daichi Takatani of Japan. Silver at Under-23 World Wrestling Championship.

SUMIT KUMAR

In his comeback to the international circuit after seven months, having recovered from back surgery, he won a silver medal (125kg) at the Asian Wrestling Championship in New Delhi. Also won gold at the National Wrestling Championships.

VINESH PHOGAT

Silver medal (55kg) at the Asian Wrestling Championship in New Delhi. Returning post a career-threatening injury, this was her first tournament since the Rio Olympics. Next, won gold at the National Wrestling Championships, beating fellow Haryana grappler Manisha.

Asian Wrestling Championship

Sayantan Maitra | IBTimes, Bajrang ends India's gold drought in Asian wrestling| May 14 2017 | PTI, Silver for Sumit; 10 medals for India May 15 2017 : PTI

India finished 5th (behind Japan, Iran, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan) and China, with 9 medals, 9th. No other South Asian country was among the 11 medal winning countries.

Bajrang Punia gave India its first gold medal as he registered a come-frombehind 6-2 victory over Seungchul Lee of South Korea in men's 65kg freestyle at the Asian Wrestling Championship. The 23-year-old Bajrang conceded two points in the opening half to trail 0-2 at the break. However, the Indian made a strong comeback in the second half, not allowing his rival from Korea to earn any more points. He first pushed his opponent out of the mat to take a point and then took the Korean down for two more to lead 3-2. Bajrang then went into the attack, not allowing his rival to come back into the contest.

Harpreet Singh emerged as the only shining star for India on the opening day of the Asian Wrestling Championship here in the Capital on Wednesday .Harpreet bagged a bronze medal in the Greco-Roman 80 kg category by beating China's Junjie Na by a 3-2 margin.

Anil Kumar and Jyoti brought home two more medals. They both bagged bronze medals in their respective categories. In a closely fought contest, Anil beat Muhammadali Shamsiddinov of Uzbekistan 7-6 in the men's Greco-Roman 85kg category while Jyoti finished on the podium in women's 75kg event.

Sarita won a silver medal in women's 58kg category . She lost 0-6 to Aisuluu Tynybekova of Kyrgyzstan in the final. Gold medal eluded the Indian women wrestlers even though this was their bestever performance in the Asian Championship. They finished second in the championship behind Japan with six medals, including four silver and two bronze.

India finished their Asian Wrestling Championship campaign on a resounding note with Sumit winning a silver medal in the 125 kg category on the concluding day of the continental event. Sumit went down to Yadollah Mohammadkazem Mohebi of Iran in men's 125kg freestyle gold medal bout on the final day of the competition here.

The Indian wrestlers finished with 10 medals, including a gold, five silver and four bronze, bettering their tally of nine medals in the last edition of the Championship at Bangkok.

India's medal winners:

Men's freestyle

GOLD - Bajrang Punia (65 kg)

SILVER - Sumit (125 kg)

BRONZE – None

Men's Greco-Roman

GOLD – None

SILVER – None

BRONZE - Harpreet Singh (80 kg), Anil Kumar (85 kg)

Women's wrestling

GOLD – None

SILVER - Sakshi Malik (60 kg), Divya Kakran (69 kg), Vinesh Phogat (55 kg), Sarita (58 kg)

BRONZE - Ritu Phogat (48 kg), Jyoti (75 kg)

Asian cadet championships: 23 medals

India strikes it rich, July 25, 2017: The Hindu

India ended its campaign at the Asian cadet wrestling championships in Bangkok with a rich haul of 23 medals, including five golds, according to information received.

Four of the golds were won by men while Tina was the lone woman gold medallist, winning in the 65 kg category.

The medallists:

Gold: Akash Dahiya (58kg freestyle), Praveen Malik (76kg freestyle), Arshad (42kg Greco-Roman), Mohit (85kg Greco-Roman), Tina (65kg women); Silver: Naveen (54kg freestyle), Simran (40kg women); Bronze: Praveen (46kg freestyle), Rohit (63kg freestyle), Vishal (69kg freestyle), Sandeep (85kg freestyle), Srikant (50kg Greco-Roman), Bapu Kohlekar (54kg Greco-Roman); Ashu (69kg Greco-Roman), Sanjit (76kg Greco-Roman).

Deepanshu (100kg Greco-Roman), Neha (38kg women), Sanju 43kg women), Nisha (46kg women), Anju (49kg women), Sonam (56kg women), Anshu (60kg women), Karuna (70kg women).

World U-23 Championship: Historic double-silver

Hindol Basu, Historic double-silver in wrestling, November 28, 2017: The Times of India

Haryana U-23 Grapplers Bajrang & Vinod Do Country Proud In Worlds

With Sushil Kumar and Yogeshwar Dutt’s careers entering the final stretch, the big question is: who will be the flagbearers of Indian men’s wrestling in the coming times? A certain 23-year-old, lithely built man from Khudan village in Jhajjar, Haryana, has put his hands up.

Experts consider Bajrang Punia to be the ‘next big thing’ in Indian men’s freestyle wrestling, and Punia justied that tag on Sunday, winning silver in the 65kg category of the World U-23 Senior Wrestling Championship being held in Bydgoszcz, Poland. There was more joy for India on the day, as another Haryana wrestler, Vinod Omprakash, who hails from Jind, also won silver (in 70kg freestyle category).

Punia and Omprakash created history, as India has won three silver medals in a world championship for the first time. Ritu Phogat had won silver in the women’s 48kg weight class on Saturday. This performance bettered the one silver and two bronze that the country had won in the 2013 World Wrestling Championship in Budapest, Hungary.

While Punia lost his final to Russia’s Nachyn Sergeevitch Kuular by a 6-17 margin, Omprakash came second best to USA’s Richard Lewis 1-3 over the two rounds.

“I am disappointed to have missed out on the gold medal. Everyone remembers the champion,” Punia told TOI from Bydgoszcz, Poland. In the pre-quarters, Punia hammered Panah Ilyasli of Azerbaijan 5-0, before coming out on top against Heydar Yavuz of Turkey 7-5 in the quarterfinals.

The semifinal, against junior world championship bronze medallist Younes Emamichoghaei of Iran, was tough. Emam took a 2-0 lead very early in the contest but the Indian bounced back and brought things on level terms with a couple of takedowns. Going into the final few minutes of the bout, both wrestlers were tied at 4-4. “I moved a lot and played a counter-attacking game in the final few minutes and that paid off,” said Punia. He won by a 9-4 margin.

“I have to work a lot on my stamina if I have to become the champion. I matched the Russian wrestler (in the final) and gave him a tough fight in the first round, but lost steam towards the end and he managed to widen the gap between us,” Punia reflected over his loss in the final.

Punia earlier trained at the Chhatrasal Stadium in Delhi under Dronacharya awardee Ramphal Maan. When Maan moved to Sonipat in 2014, Punia left Chhatrasal and joined Maan. Olympic medallist Yogeshwar Dutt considers Punia to be his protégé and now the 23-year-old trains at Dutt’s wrestling academy in Gohana, Sonipat, still under Maan.

The coach said Punia could have won a medal at the senior Worlds in Paris in August earlier this year, but lost out since the Indian wrestlers “did not get proper diet” in Paris. India did not win a single medal in that championship.

“This time, though, I made sure that Bajrang went to Poland just two days before his match day, not like the Paris Worlds when he went early and did not get the diet he requires. Ek pehelwaan ko uski khuraak bahut zaroori hoti hai (For a wrestler, diet is of utmost importance). I gave him packed homemade food for his entire stay in Poland. The chapatis were augmented with milk in it and we gave him the food that gives him strength. That’s why, he could wrestle with a free mind in Poland,” Maan disclosed.

Omprakash, an employee of the Services, currently trains at the Army Sports Institute in Pune. He received his early training at the Mehar Singh Akhada in Rohtak.

WFI secretary, Vinod Tomar congratulated Punia, Omprakash and Ritu for their achievements. “Some people were hell bent on writing off Indian wrestling. But we have bounced back strongly and made a statement with this kind of performance at a world meet. More young wrestlers are coming up the ranks and I am sure they’ll bring further laurels to the nation,” said Tomar.

December 2017, Commonwealth Wrestling Championship/ 59 medals

December 18, 2017: The Times of India

Sakshi Triumphs Too As India Finish With 29 Gold In CW Wrestling

Double Olympic medallist SushilKumar made a glorious return to the international arena by clinching a gold as India won an impressive 59 medals at the Commonwealth Wrestling Championships in Johannesburg.

The other gold medals winners for India were Utkarsh Kale (57kg), Sharvan (61kg), Bajrang (65kg), Amit Dhankar (70kg), Jitender (79kg), Deepak (86kg), Somveer (92kg), Rubaljeet Singh (97kg) and Hitender (125kg).

Besides Sushil, Another Olympic medallist, Sakshi Malik, who won a bronze in the 2016 Rio Games, also clinched a gold medal in the championships. Sakshi defeated New Zealand's Tayla Tuahine Ford by a score of 13-2 in the final of the 62kg women's freestyle category to add another yellow metal for India.

The freestyle wrestling team won 10 gold, seven silver and two bronze medals on Sunday as India returned with a total of 29 gold, 24 silver and 6 bronze from the championships.

Earlier in the day returning to international wrestling after more than three years, Sushil defeated New Zealand Akash Khullar's via a pinfall in the final of the 74kg freestylecategory toclinchthe yellow metal. It was his first medal in international wrestling since his gold medal in the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.

Sushil returned to competitive wrestling in November at the Senior Nationals in Indore where he won a gold medal amid controversy after getting three walkovers from his fellow wrestlers.

Incidentally, it was Praveen Rana who gave him a walkover in the title clash in Indore, but the duo wrestled this time and Sushil came out on top with a 5-4 victory margin here. In his first bout, Sushil defeated Johannes Petrus Botha of South Africa 8-0 followed by thewin over Rana. Sushil alsobeat Jasmit Singh Phulka of Canada by fall en route his gold medal.

Achievements, in brief

December 18, 2017: The Statesman

December 16, 2017: The Indian Express

Gold medal winners: 55 kg. Rajender Kumar, 60 kg. Manish, 63 kg. Vikas, 67 kg. Anil Kumar, 72 kg. Aditya Kundu, 77 kg. Gurpreet, 82 kg. Harpreet, 87 kg. Sunil, 97 kg. Hardeep, 130 kg. Naveen.

Silver medallists: 55 kg. Naveen, 60 kg. Gyanender, 63 kg. Gaurav Sharma, 67 kg. Manish, 72 kg. Kuldeep Malik, 77 kg. Manjeet, 82 kg. Amarnath, 87 kg. Prabhpal Singh, 97 kg. Sumit, 130 kg. Sonu.

Emerging Indian star Parveen Rana got the bronze in the 74kg category, beating Johannes Petrus Botha of South Africa in the play-off for the third place.

Sakshi Malik, the only Indian female grappler to clinch an Olympic medal, also bagged a gold medal. The Rio Olympics silver medallist defeated New Zealand’s Tayla Tuahine Ford 13-2 in the final of the women’s 62kg category.

The Indians dominated most of the weight categories in the men’s freestyle with Bajrang (65kg), Jitender (79kg) and Sumit (125kg) also winning gold in their respective events. Hitender (125kg), Somveer (92kg) and Jitender (79kg) had to be content with bronze medals.

The Indian women also imposed total domination in the competition, winning gold in each of the 10 weight categories.

Apart from Malik, Kiran (72kg), Divya Kakran (68kg) and Ritu Malik (65kg) emerged champions in their respective categories on Sunday while Pooja (76kg) and Ravita (59kg) finished with silver medals. Kavita (76kg) and Manu Tomar (72kg) took bronze.

“The best thing is that Indian wrestlers were involved in a strong competition after a long time. Wrestlers from Nigeria, Australia, Canada and New Zealand are really strong, both technically and physically, specially in the middle weight categories like the 74kg and 86kg,” he said.

2018

Asian Wrestling

Navjot Kaur wins gold medal

March 3, 2018: The Times of India

HIGHLIGHTS

Navjot outclassed Japan's Miya Imai 9-1 in a one-sided contest of the 65kg freestyle category final

Sakshi won the bronze in the 62kg freestyle category after getting better of Kazakhstan's Ayaulym Kassymova 10-7

The two medals now took India's overall tally to six, which consisted a gold, a silver and four bronze medals

Ace wrestler Navjot Kaur scripted history by becoming the first Indian woman wrestler to win a gold in the Senior Asian Championships as she clinched the yellow metal in the 65kg freestyle category in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan

Navjot outclassed Japan's Miya Imai 9-1 in a one-sided final bout of the women's 65kg freestyle category to bag the gold. This was also India's first gold in the ongoing championships. Earlier in the day, India got another medal through Rio Olympics bronze medallist Sakshi Malik who won the bronze in the 62kg freestyle category after getting better of Kazakhstan's Ayaulym Kassymova 10-7 in a tough fight.

The two medals now took India's overall tally to six, which consisted a gold, a silver and four bronze medals.

Bajrang seeded 3rd

Bajrang seeded 3rd in World Wrestlng October 11, 2018: The Times of India

One of India’s most consistent performers in the recent times, Bajrang Punia on Thursday became the first Indian to feature in the top seeds of World Wrestling Championships to be held in Budapest, Hungary from October 20 to 28. He is seeded third in his 65kg weight category of the freestyle event. He is accorded the pride of place with 45 points in the ranking list released by the United World Wrestling, the parent body of wrestling.

‘Goonga Pehelwan’ axed, wrestlers revolt

Sabi Hussain, ‘Goonga Pehelwan’ axed, wrestlers revolt, June 2, 2018: The Times of India

Legendary deaf and mute wrestler Virender Singh, famously known as ‘Goonga Pehelwan’, has been punished for speaking out against the alleged “irregularities” committed by the national federation – All India Sports Council of the Deaf (AISCD).

The celebrated grappler has been dropped from the World Deaf Senior Greco-Roman & Freestyle wrestling championship to be held in Vladimir, Russia from June 11-19, leaving his supporters and the wrestling community stunned.

In solidarity, other participating wrestlers have revolted against the federation and has threatened to boycott the Worlds. Nine of the participating wrestlers have written to the SAI that none of them will go to the Worlds if Virender’s suspension wasn’t revoked and his name included in the team.

Virender may not be a household name, but the Arjuna awardee is revered in the same breath as two-time Olympics medallist Sushil Kumar. Virender has seven international medals – including three gold from the Deaflympics (Olympic Games for deaf athletes) and one gold from the Deaf Worlds.

In the latest case, Virender hasn’t been selected for the Worlds after he alleged that the federation has not paid him and other participating athletes their ‘pocket allowance’ due for the 2017 Samsun Deaflympics.

As a result of his tirade, he was show-caused and later suspended by the federation in March this year. Recently, the sports ministry wrote to the AISCD to revoke Virender’s suspension immediately, but the federation’s interpreter and project officer, Ketan Shah, is insisting that Virender should first ‘apologise’ to the AISCD for making false allegations.

Junior Asian Championships

Day 1: 4 medals

July 18, 2018: The Times of India

India's Greco Roman wrestler Sajan gave his blood and sweat before emerging champion in the 77kg category as the hosts claimed four medals, including two silver and a bronze, on the opening day of the Junior Asian Championships here. Four of the five Indians in action today returned with medals as Manjeet opted out of event due to an injury. Sajan opened India's gold account while Vijay (5kg) and Aryan Pawar (130kg) settled for silver medals. Kumar Sunil won bronze in the 87kg. Sajan overcame Iran's Shayan-Hosein Afifi 3-0 in the final to better his last year’s performance at the event when he won a bronze in Chinese Taipei.

More medals, and misses

July 20, 2018: The Times of India

Gold Coast CWG bronze medallist Divya Kakran had to settle for silver after being too defensive in the final against nemesis Meerim Zhumanazarova while Karuna and Reena returned with bronze medals at the Junior Asian Wrestling Championship.

All five Indian girls in action reached the final round but Sangeet Phogat (59kg) and Shivani Pawar (50kg) lost their bronze-medal bouts.

Gaurika takes lead: Indian golfer Gaurika Bishnoi made just one birdie on the second hole but still managed to grab the lead at the end of the second round of the Hero Women’s Pro Golf Tour in Bengaluru. She carded one birdie and three bogeys in her 74 that put her 1-over 145 and gave her a one-shot lead over Tvesa Malik (71). Neha Tripathi found the going tough with six bogeys and no birdies in her 78.

Junior World Wrestling Championships

Sajan, Vijay in final

Sajan, Vijay in Junior World C’ship final, September 19, 2018: The Times of India

Indian wrestler Vijay bagged the bronze medal in the 55kg Greco-Roman category after defeating Cihat Ahmet Liman of Turkey 16-8 in the Junior World Championships in Trnava, Slovakia.

He beat Kim Doohoon of Korea 3-1 in the quarterfinal but lost to Armenia's Tigran Minasyan 10-0 in the semifinal.

In the 60kg Greco-Roman style, another Indian, whose name is also Vijay, reached the final with a win over Ali Reza Ayat Ollah Nejati of Iran. Asian champion Sajan Bhanwal also advanced into the finals of 77kg greco-roman with a 4-1 win over Dmytro Gardubei of Ukraine.

Sihag in final, Mansi gets bronze

September 21, 2018: The Times of India

Trnava (Slovakia): Grappler Naveen Sihag shocked defending champ Daton Duain Fix to progress to the 57kg gold medal bout of the men’s free style competition at the junior world wrestling championship while Mansi grabbed a bronze in the women’s 57kg.

Under-23 National Championship

Haryana wins 7/ 10 golds

October 1, 2018: The Times of India

Women grapplers from Haryana dominated day 2 of the inaugural Under-23 National Wrestling Championship, as they grabbed seven out of a possible 10 gold medals on offer in Chittorgarh on Saturday. Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra and Chandigarh also won a medal each as all 10 women grapplers booked their tickets to Bucharest for the Under-23 World Championships starting November 12. Haryana also finished on top of the points table.

World Championships

Quarterfinals: Malik advances, Gogane loses

Sumit Malik will fight for a bronze at the Wrestling World Championships even as Sonba Tanaji Gogane was outclassed by reigning European champion Rashidov Gadzhimurad in the men's free style quarterfinals here on Saturday. Malik overcame Inkar Yermukambet of Kazakhstan 6-1 in the quarterfinals after beating Japan's Taiki Yamamoto 4-1 in the prequarterfinals of the 125kg category. PTI

Yasar Dogu: 10 medals (2 gold; 7 by women)

July 30, 2018: The Times of India

Bajrang Punia won his second consecutive international gold while Sandeep Tomar had to be content with a silver medal at the Yasar Dogu International as Indian wrestlers returned with 10 medals, including seven by women, from the ranking event in Istanbul, Turkey.

In the women's competition, Pinki was the lone gold medallist in the 55kg category with her 6-3 win over Ukraine’s Olga Shnaider in the final but Olympic bronze medallist Sakshi Malik endured a disappointing result as she failed to reach the medal round in the 62kg category.

Indian women grapplers outperformed the men by winning seven medals. CWG champion Bajrang, who won a gold at the Tbilisi Grand Prix in Gerogia early this month, did not have to break a sweat as his gold medal opponent Andriy Kvyatkovskyy from Ukraine withdrew from the 70kg final due to an injury. In the 61kg final, Sandeep, who was the last Indian to grab a place in Indian men's Asian Games squad, lost 2-8 to Iran's Mohammadbagher Yakhkeshi.

See also

Sakshi Malik

Vinesh Phogat