GOLD COAST , APR 13,
A dominant Bajrang Punia overpowered his opponents with remarkable ease to claim gold medal in the men’s freestyle 65 kg event at the 21st Commonwealth Games, in Gold Coast on Friday.
The 24-year-old from Haryana dominated the proceedings against Wales’ Kane Charig to register an emphatic 10-0 win to claim India’s 16th gold medal on the eighth day of the Games at the Carrara Sports Arena. Bajrang, who won a silver in Glasgow four years ago, was awarded the victory by technical superiority as he didn’t give an inch to his opponent. In fact, such was his dominance that Bajrang won all his bouts on Friday on Technical Superiority as none of his rivals could pose a threat to him.
He had defeated New Zealand’s Brahm Richards in the first bout, before outwitting Nigeria’s Amas Daniel in the 1/4 final. He then dumped Canada’s Vincent De Marinis in the semifinals. A 2013 World Championship bronze medallist, Bajrang also won gold medals in the Commonwealth Championship in 2016 and 2017 at Singapore and Brakpan, South Africa respectively.
Pooja Dhanda made a late push in the women’s 57kg final bout against Nigeria’s Odunayo Adekuoroye but had to be content with a silver medal, losing 5-7.
Divya Kakran won bronze medal in the women’s freestyle 68 kg by outplaying Bangladesh’s Sherin Sultana 4-0, a victory by fall.
Mausam Khatri wins silver
Wrestler Mausam Khatri failed to make use of his wealth of experience as he settled for a silver medal after losing his final bout against South Africa’s Martin Erasmus in the men’s freestyle 97 kg event. The 27-year-old from Haryana couldn’t overpower 23-year-old Erasmus, who looked in better control and won the match by technical superiority after the scores were 12-2 in his favour at the Carrara Sports Arena here.
In the run-up to the final, Khatri had secured wins over Cyprus’ Alexios Kaouslidis in the 1/4 final and Nigeria’s Soso Tamarau in the semifinal.
A bronze medallist in the 2010 Asian Games, Khatri also won the Commonwealth Championship twice — in 2009 and 2011.
He also has a silver from last year’s edition at Johannesburg
