Putting aside the mental and physical struggles that pegged her back, an intimidating Vinesh Phogat pounced on her rivals to complete a hat-trick of CWG gold medals while Ravi Dahiya too went unchallenged in his gold-winning show, in Birmingham on August 6.
Vinesh became the first Indian woman wrestler to win three consecutive Commonwealth Games gold medals. In what was expected to be a tough opener against world championship bronze medallist Samantha Leigh Stewart, Vinesh reduced it to a no contest and finished it in mere 36 seconds.
Vinesh had the Canadian in a headlock from where she pushed her on the mat and in no time pinned her rival. Even before people could warm up to the contest, it was all over.
Next up for the 27-year-old Vinesh was Nigeria's Mercy Bolafunoluwa Adekuoroye, who tried to resist a bit but soon the Indian had her in an iron grip. Vinesh kept her in that position for more than a minute in a magnificent show of power, winning 6-0. With only four wrestlers in the women's 53kg draw, Vinesh now needed to beat Sri Lanka's Chamodya Keshani Maduravlage Don and she did it in style, winning 'by fall' to clinch her third successive gold.
Vinesh has been struggling for form and fitness ever since her defeat at the Tokyo Games, where she made a shock first-round exit after entering the field as the hot favourite for the gold medal. Tokyo Games silver medallist Ravi was also too good for the 57kg field. He won both his bouts — against Suraj Singh of New Zealand and Pakistan's Asad Ali — by technical superiority en route to the final.
In the final, Nigeria's Ebikewenimo Welson showed the intent to fight but the level at which Ravi wrestles, it was a tough task. Ravi foiled a right leg attack and on the next try of the Nigerian, he scored on the counter-attack, effecting a take-down move with ease.
Soon he had trapped Welson in leg-lace and rolled him thrice for a 8-0 lead. Ravi completed the formality with another take-down. Also fighting for gold is Naveen (74kg), who began with TSU wins over Nigeria's Ogbonna Emmanuel John, Singapore's Hong Yeow Lou, and England's Charlie James Bowling.
He will next fight it out with Pakistan's Tahir Muhammad Sharif. In women's 50kg, Pooja Gehlot made a confident start with a TSU win over Scotland's Christelle Lemofack Letchidjio and then got a walk over from Cameron's Rebecca Ndolo Muambo to make the semifinal stage with ease.
However, she lost the last-four clash 6-9 to Canada's Madison Bianca Parks and will now fight for bronze against the Scottish player. Since only six wrestlers featured in this category, it was completed in Nordic style, where all wrestlers, divided into two groups, competed once against each other. Pooja Sihag (76kg) is also in contention to win bronze. She is set to clash with Australia's Naomi de Bruine.
In men's freestyle 97kg, Deepak Nehra will fight for bronze. He will clash with Pakistan's Tayab Raza.
Discover the latest Business News, Sensex, and Nifty updates. Obtain Personal Finance insights, tax queries, and expert opinions on Moneycontrol or download the Moneycontrol App to stay updated!
