Indian women athletes put up a staggering fight at the Asian Wrestling Championships and much to the delight of the supporters, they came out on top by beating the toughest opponents. India’s women wrestlers hogged the limelight by winning four medals at Asian Championships, which is the biggest-ever haul on a single day of the competition.
The women grapplers showcased their mettle by steering India to three gold medals and a silver. Divya Kakran (68kg), Sarita Mor (59kg) and Pinki (55kg) were the pick of the bunch as they showed a great deal of flair and flamboyance to clinch their first-ever gold medal apiece in women’s freestyle.
Divya Kakran scripted history as she became the second Indian woman to clinch a gold medal at the ongoing Asian Wrestling Championship. Divya won the bronze medal at Asian Games 2018 and now she won her first gold by winning all her four bouts against the likes of Kazakhstan, Mongolia, Uzbekistan and Japan.
Her final bout against Japan’s Naruha Matsuyuki was close but she managed to outsmart her opponent 6-4 to win the gold medal. The 68 kg category was played in round-robin format as just five wrestlers were in the fray.
Sarita, who is competing in her first Asian event since settling for the silver in 2017 in 58kg, won initial two bouts by technical superiority against Madina Bakbergenova (Kazakhstan) and Nazira MarsbekKyzy (Kyrgyzstan) before clinching 10-3 against Japan’s Yuumi Kon. She outsmarted Mongolia’s Battseteg Atlantsetseg 3-2 in the final.
Sarita somehow managed a push-out point to clinch her first gold medal at this event after the scores were tied.
Pinki, who is competing at senior Asian competition for the very first time, started by defeating Uzbekistan’s Shokida Akhmedova by fall but lost the next bout to Japan’s Kana Higashikawa. She won her semifinal against Marina Zuyeva 6-0 and beat Mongolia’s Dulguun Bolormaa 2-1 to grab the gold medal.
The three-time Commonwealth championship gold medallist, Nirmala Devi (50 kg) got the better of Munkhnar Byambasuren of Mongolia in the quarterfinals by 6-4 to reach the semis.
In the semi-final contest, Nirmala defeated Dauletbike Yakhshimuratova of Uzbekistan by 10-0 by (technical superiority) but lost her 50kg title clash 2-3 to 2018 Under-23 World Champion Miho Igarashi of Japan.