CWG: Deepak Punia beats Pakistan's Muhammad Inam to win gold
After the success stories of Bajrang Punia and Sakshi Malik, India on Friday claimed a third gold medal in wrestling at the 2022 Commonwealth Games. This time, it was Deepak Punia, who beat Pakistan's Muhammad Inam 3-0 in the men's 86kg category (freestyle). Two-time champion Inam never actually threatened Deepak's defence. It was a strong performance by Deepak to hand India a medal.
DEEPAK HAS DONE IT 🔥🔥
— SAI Media (@Media_SAI) August 5, 2022
3️⃣rd Back To Back GOLD 🥇for 🇮🇳
Unassailable @deepakpunia86 🤼♂️ (M-86kg) wins GOLD on his debut at #CommonwealthGames 🔥🔥
The World C'ships 🥈 medalist displayed brilliant form at @birminghamcg22 with 2 technical superiority wins 😁#Cheer4India
1/1 pic.twitter.com/5hEJf6Ldd4
It's a maiden CWG medal for Deepak. He has been a four-time medallist at the Asian Championships (2 silver, 2 bronze). He also won a bronze at the 2022 Yasar Dogu Tournament (92kg category). He has also won a gold at the World Cadet Championships.
Deepak took a 2-0 lead in the first period and then held his fort to thwart off Inam, winning 3-0. Punia showed strong defence and Inam never quite managed to break the Indian wrestler. In the semis, Deepak defeated Alexander Moore of Canada by a 3-1 margin. In the quarters, he tamed Sheku Kassegbama after having won by technical superiority in the first bout.
