Vinesh Phogat, Sumit claim gold; Sakshi settles for bronze on last day of CWG wrestling


Team Udayavani, Apr 14, 2018, 3:12 PM IST

Gold Coast: There was no stopping the gold rush in wrestling as two more were added to the tally by Vinesh Phogat (50kg) and Sumit (125kg) but Olympic bronze-medallist Sakshi Malik (62kg) had to be content with a third-place finish in the Commonwealth Games on Saturday.

Adding another bronze to the count was Somveer, in the 86kg category. India signed off their wrestling campaign at the Games with five gold, three silver and four bronze medals.

The overall count was one less than the medals achieved in the 2014 edition of the Games but India kept their gold medal count at five, the number they achieved the last time.

The weight categories of both Sakshi and Vinesh were competed on a round-robin format as the number of competitors in the draw were less than six.

Sakshi went out of the gold medal contention in the first round itself after losses to Canada’s Michelle Fazzari and Nigeria’s Aminat Adeniyi following a win over Cameroon’s Berthe Ngolle.

But she gathered herself after the setback to defeat New Zealand’s Tayla Ford 6-5 in a close bout to avoid going without a medal. The heartbreak of missing the gold left her in tears during the medal ceremony.

“I am so disappointed, I should have won a gold medal and I have to settle for a bronze. It will be another four years before I can make this right. I could not get what I expected of myself,” she told PTI, wiping away her tears.

“I had a bad second bout because I thought I was winning till the last few seconds but then I lost and it destroyed my composure, I could never recover from that,” she said referring to her defeat at the hands of Canadian Michelle Fazzari. The final scoreline read 8-11.

Asked what’s next for her in the calendar, Sakshi said, “Next for me is the Asian Games and I will prepare hard for it.”

However, Vinesh continued her tremendous comeback to big-ticket wrestling. The 23-year-old, who had sustained a career-threatening injury during the Rio Olympics, was in complete control of proceedings from her first bout.

She ultimately did what her cousin Babita could not do and claimed a second successive gold medal at the Games. The Indian won two of her three bouts on technical superiority, raising to 10-point leads before her rivals could open their accounts.

Sumit, on the other hand, competed in three bouts but didn’t have to fight it out in the gold medal bout after his Nigerian rival Sinivie Boltic pulled out citing an injury sustained earlier in the day.

Sumit found himself in slight controversy after his second-round rival — Korey Jarvis of Canada — accused him of biting his hand during the bout. Jarvis’ hand was heavily bandaged after the bout and he accused Sumit of being responsible for it.

“I don’t think it would’ve made me win but there was no need to poke me in the eye or bite me. It happens a lot with Indian guys. They poke a lot and they bite, but it’s part of the sport,” Jarvis said.

Sumit, however, denied the charge.

Later, in the last India bout of the day, Somveer ensured that it ended on a bright note as he clinched the 86kg category bronze.

Somveer rallied from a 1-3 deficit to defeat Canadian Alexander Moore in the play-off bout.

Earlier, double Olympic-medallist Sushil Kumar, Rahul Aware and Bajrang Punia had picked up gold medals for India on the first two days of the competition.

Udayavani is now on Telegram. Click here to join our channel and stay updated with the latest news.

Top News

Burglars decamp with cash Rs 1 crore, 300 gold sovereigns from house in Kerala

Raut demands re-election, alleges irregularities in EVMs during Maharashtra polls

Perth Test: Bumrah leads India to its biggest Test win on Australian soil

Sambhal violence: FIR against SP MP Zia-ur-Rehman Barq, SP MLA’s son

Six junior artists of Kannada film ‘Kantara’ injured in accident in Karnataka

MNS at risk of losing recognition, symbol after drawing blank in Maharashtra polls

‘Wicked’ and ‘Gladiator’ make gravity-defying theatre debuts

Related Articles More

Perth Test, Day 4: Siraj removes Smith as Australia go into lunch at 104 for five

Skipper Rohit Sharma hit nets following arrival in Perth, will play two-day game in Canberra

Chennai Super Kings can use R Ashwin in a number of ways: Stephen Fleming

IPL 2025 | Got someone who can do captaincy job: Ricky Ponting on Shreyas Iyer

I played with fearless mindset, took brave decisions: Yashasvi Jaiswal

MUST WATCH

Coconut Flower

Prakash Belawadi

Naxal Leader Vikram Gowda

Christmas Cake Fruit Mixing

DK Shivakumar


Latest Additions

RG Kar protests: SC orders SIT probe into custodial torture case, weekly reports before HC

Dr. D. Veerendra Heggade sets record for ‘Largest Single-Man Collection of Antiques’

Rapid digital expansion to create over 1 lakh new jobs in fiber tech in India in next 5 years

Burglars decamp with cash Rs 1 crore, 300 gold sovereigns from house in Kerala

No ‘formula’ under discussion for CM’s post: Ajit Pawar

Thanks for visiting Udayavani

You seem to have an Ad Blocker on.
To continue reading, please turn it off or whitelist Udayavani.