Two experienced wrestlers, Rahul Aware and Musam Khatri, gave brilliant performances to announce their return to the top on the final day of the National wrestling championship at the Abhay Prashal Indoor Stadium here on Saturday.
Aware bagged the 61kg freestyle gold medal, while Khatri took the 97kg top honour.
Former Asian championship bronze medallist Aware showed a lot of determination to script his comeback among the elite wrestlers in his weight category.
Aware, who did not fight in the last Nationals, showed a big heart to beat Harphool against the run of play in 61kg semifinals. When Harphool was leading 4-0, Aware grabbed a chance and pinned him to reach the title clash.
Even though he took a medical time out in the final, Aware exhibited his sound defence to protect his score and record a 6-3 victory over Sharvan.
In a closely-fought 97kg semifinal clash, the seasoned Khatri toppled man-in-form and Commonwealth Games medallist Satyawart Kadian 3-1. With the scores tied at 1-1 and both wrestlers tired, Khatri effected a fine counter-attack and gathered two crucial points to establish a decisive lead.
Khatri defeated Rubaljeet Singh, who had a walkover against Ravi Barot in the semifinal, in the summit clash.
The medallists:
Freestyle: 61kg: 1. Rahul Aware (RSPB), 2. Sharvan (Chd), 3. Harphool (SSCB), Sonafa (Mah)
70kg: 1. Amit Dhankar (Har), 2. Arun Kumar (Del), 3. Vinod Kumar (SSCB), Vikas (Chd).
79kg: 1. Jitender (RSPB), 2. Veerdev Gulia (Har), 3. Amit (Del), Kautuk (Mah)
92kg: 1. Somvir (Har), 2. Ajruddin (Raj), 3. Jonny (HP), Gopal Yadav (RSPB)
97kg: 1. Mausam Khatri (Har), 2. Rubaljeet Singh (SSCB), 3, Ravi Barot (MP), Satywart Kadian (RSPB)
125kg: 1. Sumit (RSPB), 2. Hitender (RSPB), 3. Gurpal Singh (Pun), Satender (SSCB)
Team championships: Freestyle: 1. Haryana (84 points), 2. RSPB (78), 3. SSCB (49); Greco Roman: 1. Haryana (85) 2. SSCB (74), 3. RSPB (74); Female: 1. Haryana (91), 2. RSPB (87), 3. Uttar Pradesh (69).
