Ravi Dahiya wins gold, Bajrang Punia settles for silver at Asian Wrestling Championship

India's Ravi Dahiya claimed the gold medal in 57kg men's freestyle category at the Asian Wrestling Championship on Saturday. Dahiya got the better of Tajikistan's Hikmatullo Vohidov 10-0 on technical superiority in the second half. However, Bajrang Punia had to settle for silver as he fell short in the final of 65kg category, losing 2-10 to Japan's Takuto Otoguro at the KD Jadhav Indoor Hall.

Dahiya wins gold

Dahiya's medal was India's only gold of the day as three other grapplers lost their respective final bouts, including Bajrang. In the 97kg category, Satywart Kadian lost to Iran's Mojtaba Mohammadshafie Goliej 0-10 in the final. In the 79kg category, Gourav Baliyan was defeated by Kyrgyzstan's Arsalan Budazhapov 5-7 in the gold medal bout. Earlier, in 57kg, Dahiya, who is fast emerging a strong contender at the Tokyo Games, too put up a strong show, beating Japan's Yuki Takahashi (14-5) before pinning Mongolia's Tugs Batjargal. In the semifinal, Uzbekistan's Nurislam Sanayev too could not challenge Dahiya much.

Image credits: PTI