Hurrah! India bags six medals at Asian wrestling championships; Navjot Kaur clinches Gold

Bishkek, March 3: Indian wrestlers shined at the Asian Wrestling Championships which is being held in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan and bagged a total of six medals including a gold, a silver and four bronze medals. Navjot Kaur clinched India's first gold medal while Sakshi Malik won a bronze medal on Friday. Notably, Navjot Kaur became the first Indian woman in history to win a gold medal at the Asian Championships. 

 

Navjot Kaur produced a dominating performance in the final of the women’s 65 kg freestyle category to clinch the gold medal after defeating Japan's Miya Imai. Navjot defeated Miya Imai by 9-1 in a one-sided contest. After winning a Gold, Navjot ended nearly two decades of futility for the women's wrestling team by securing the medal of the most important color.

Meanwhile, Rio Olympics bronze medallist Sakshi Malik won a bronze in the 62kg freestyle category after defeating Kazakhstan's Ayaulym Kassymova by 10-7 in a tough fight.

On the other side, Vinesh Phogat had to settle with a silver medal as she lost 2-3 to China's a Chun Lei in the summit clash of the women's 50kg freestyle. Another Indian wrestler Sangeeta defeated Jieun Um of Korea to win a bronze medal in the women's 59kg freestyle event.

Interestingly, the 28-year-old Navjot has been around the wrestling circuit for a while as she had previously won a silver at the Asian Championships in 2013 and a bronze in 2014 Commonwealth Games in 67kg.