Birmingham: Wrestler Sakshi Malik won the gold medal at the Commonwealth Games in Women's Freestyle 62 kg category after beating Canada's Ana Godinez Gonzalez. Earlier, Bajrang Punia calibre came to the fore as he defeated his Canadian opponent McNeil (9-2) with ease in the 65kg gold final match. With this win, Punia defended his title which was gold at the Commonwealth Games, Goldcoast.
On the other hand, wrestler Anshu Malik settled for silver. She lost the Gold medal match to Nigeria's Folasade Adekuoroye.
Bajran Punia match analysis
Punia was extremely dominant in the first period and did not let his opponent score. He finished with a 4-0 lead over McNeil at the end of the first period. But McNeil made a comeback with a strong effort and he cut down the deficit by two points to make it 2-4. Punia took the lead once again after scoring two more points. The Indian did not look back from there and won the match 9-2.
Punia reached the final after defeating George Ramm of England in the semi-final. He defeated his English opponent 10-0. He had reached the semi-final of the men's freestyle 65 kg category after defeating Jean Guyliane Joris Bandou of Mauritius in the quarter-final.
Bajrang was at his very best in the match as he gained a 6-0 win by fall. The match lasted for just one minute.
What happened in Anshu Malik's match?
Malik faced 3-7 defeat against Nigeria's Adekuoroye in the gold medal match. Malik bagged the first medal for India in the wrestling of the ongoing Commonwealth Games 2022.
Anshu Malik fought hard but was too defensive at the start of the bout and changed her tactics in the last minute to bounce back which allowed Odunayo Folasade Adekuoroye to counterattack. Her Nigerian opponent was dominant throughout the match and took the match by pinning and rolling Malik out of the ring.
Anshu Malik had scored 10-0 win against Sri Lanka's Nethmi Poruthotage to move to the final. Earlier, Sakshi Malik advanced into the final after a 10-0 victory against Berthe Emilienne Etane in the semi-final of the women's freestyle 62kg category. Sakshi is confirmed of a silver medal and will face Ana Godinez Gonzalez of Canada in the final.
Before the medal match:
Wrestler Bajrang Punia, with a lopsided 10-0 win over England's George Ramm had reached the freestyle 65kg final. Sakshi Malik too reached 62kg final with 10-0 win over.
Deepak Punia too made it to the finals of 86kg freestyle category. In repechage round, Divya Kakran will be eyeing bronze medal in 68kg category. He has defeated Cameroon's Ngiri.
