Indore: Back in action after three long years, two-time Olympic medallist Sushil Kumar took less than three minutes to bag a gold medal as three of his rivals gave him a walk over in men’s 74kg freestyle segment of the National Wrestling Championships here Friday.
Sushil battled for just two minutes and 33 seconds in total on the mat as he fought only two of his initial round bouts before three of his opponents – in the quarterfinal, semifinal and final – gave him a walk over.
Meanwhile, India’s lone woman Olympic medal winner Sakshi Malik and popular ‘Dangal girl’ Geeta Phogat also bagged a gold medal each in their respective weight categories of the women’s segment.
Sakshi finished on the top of the podium after posting a dominating 10-0 victory over Pooja Tomar of Haryana in the final of women’s 62kg, while Geeta clinched the yellow metal with a 6-0 win against Ravita in the final of 59kg category. Even Geeta’s husband Pawan Kumar managed to finish on top in the 86kg segment.
All eyes were on Sushil and India’s greatest individual Olympian hardly had to break sweat as India international Parveen Rana decided to concede his bout against the 34-year-old in the gold medal round, claiming injury. Rana was carrying a niggle which could have aggravated had he fought.
“I pulled up a muscle of my thigh before the nationals and I wanted to give a medical. But Railways needed two wrestlers so I came. After the first bout, I got a problem and by the final I was not in a position to wrestle,” said Rana. Earlier Sachin Dahiya and Praveen gave a walk over to Sushil in the semifinals and quarterfinals respectively.
Earlier, Sushil showed that class is permanent as he took less than two minutes to get past his opponents in the initial rounds.
Sushil overpowered Mizoram’s Lalmalsawma by technical fall in 48 seconds in the first round and then pinned down Mukul Mishra in just a minute and 45 seconds in his next bout.
Press Trust of India
