Commonwealth Games: Deepak Punia wins India’s ninth gold medal-Sports News , Firstpost

File image of wrestler Deepak Punia. Image:Twitter/SAI Media

India’s wrestler Deepak Punia won India’s ninth gold medal in the Commonwealth Games 2022 by defeating Pakistan’s Muhammad Inam by 3-0 in the men’s 86 kg final in Birmingham on Friday.

This was India’s third gold on the day as fellow wrestlers Bajrang Punia and Sakshi Malik also clinched gold medals in their earlier bouts. Women’s 57kg wrestler Anshu Malik settled for a silver medal in the first final of the night. This was also Deepak’s first major gold medal as he ends his string of silver medal while losing the Tokyo Olympic bronze medal bout by a second.

In Deepak’s final bout, Deepak Punia picked a solitary point early in the first half and soon added another as Inam was cautioned for passivity. In the second half, Deepak was firm with his defense and ran down the clock, and put himself in a better position by picking another single pointer. Deepak with his solid defence didn’t allow Inam in further opening to win the final.

In the semifinal earlier, Deepak saw out Canada’s Alexander Moore 3-1 as he gained early points and maintained a defensive posture to reach the final with a VPO1 win.

Commonwealth Games: India schedule, Results, Medals tally

Deepak, known for this defensive game, reached the semifinal in a rather attacking mode as he defeated Sierra Leone’s Sheku Kassegbama by technical superiority 10-0. His match lasted for just one minute and 33 seconds. Deepak emerged victorious 10-0, on basis of technical superiority over his opponent.

(With inputs from Agencies)

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