File image of wrestler Sakshi Malik. AFP
India’s star wrestler Sakshi Malik won India’s second gold medal in the discipline at the Commonwealth Games 2022 when she defeated Canada’s Ana Gonzalez by pinfall in the women’s 62 kg category final in Birmingham on Friday. This was also India’s eighth gold medal at the ongoing quadrennial event.
Earlier Bajrang Punia confirmed the first wrestling gold in the men’s 65kg category right after Anshu Malik opened the medal account in the 57kg category. This also makes Sakshi the first Indian women wrestler to claim gold in the Birmingham Games. This was also the Rio Olympic bronze medallist’s first gold in the CWG as she earlier won a silver (2014 in 58kg) and bronze (2018 in 62kg) .
Commonwealth Games: India schedule, Results, Medals tally
In the final bout, Sakshi had a chance to take two points on a takedown but Gonzalez turn it around to take two points of a near-fall move for an early lead in the first half. Before the end of the first half, Gonzalez performed another takedown to stretch her lead to 4-0.
Sakshi came back strong in the second half by winning the bout in seconds by pinfall after taking four points before.
Sakshi Malik earlier confirmed medals by reaching the finals in the 62kg category in Birmingham. Sakshi got the better of Etane Ngolle of Cameroon in the 62 kg Women’s freestyle wrestling. The 2016 Rio Olympic bronze medallist defeated her opponents with a 10-0 technical knockout.
In her semi-final bout earlier, Sakshi defeated Kelsey Barnes of England by 10-0 via technical skill-wise in the Women’s Freestyle 62 kg to enter the semi-finals.
The day also had an embarrassing incident for the organisers, the wrestling bouts had to be stopped and spectators were asked to vacate the hall after audio equipment fell from the ceiling, minutes after the first session began. Fans and officials were asked to leave the arena for a ‘health and safety check’ as chaos reigned supreme on the opening day of the wrestling competition. The morning session was halted for more than two hours.
(With inputs from Agencies)
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