New Delhi: Sunil Kumar overpowered Tuesday in emphatic fashion Azat Salidinov of Kyrgyzstan 5-0 in the 87kg summit bout to win India’s first Greco-Roman gold medal in Asian Wrestling Championships in 27 years.
Entering the gold medal bout after a come-from-behind victory in the semifinal, Kumar comprehensively defeated his opponent at the KD Jadhav Indoor Stadium here.
Earlier, Kumar was down 1-8 in his semifinal bout against his Kazakh opponent Azamat Kustubayev but made a great comeback, grabbing 11 points on the trot to win the bout at 12-8.
It should be stated here that, Kumar had made it to the final and ended with a silver medal.
Another Indian, Arjun Halakurki won a bronze in Greco-Roman 55kg, his first medal at his first senior international event. He was leading 7-1 against Iran’s Naserpour but lost 7-8 in the semifinal.
A number of wrestlers were seen wearing masks inside the stadium. It was evident that the threat of coronavirus had affected the wrestlers too.
PTI
