21st CWG: Wrestlers seal four medals as Bajrang bags gold
India's Bajrang Punia bagged the top prize in men's freestyle 65kg event to give the nation its 17th gold medal at the ongoing 21st Commonwealth Games. Punia needed around two minutes to beat Kane Charig of Wales by technical superiority. The wrestler had won a silver in the 61kg category in 2014 Glasgow Games and has now bettered that feat.
Prior to the gold medal match, the talented wrestler had gone on to beat New Zealand's Brahm Richards, Nigeria's Amas Daniel and Canada's Vincent de Marinis. Punia did not drop a single point in the entire tournament which shows his prominence. In the final, he won the match by a margin of 10-0. He had won gold in Asian Wrestling Championship last year.
There was cheer in the women's wrestling too after Pooja Dhanda won a silver in the women's 57kg freestyle event. The 24-year-old Pooja lost the gold to former Olympic bronze medalist Odunayo Adekuoroye of Nigeria. Day nine of competition also saw Divya Kakran win a bronze medal in the women's 68kg freestyle category. Divya won the play-off in just 36 seconds.
India's Mausam Khatri won the silver medal in men's freestyle 97kg event. He lost the final against Martin Erasmus of South Africa. The 27-year-old wrestler had overcome Soso Tamarau of Nigeria in an intense 10-7 win in the semi-final.
