Indian wrestlers made a clean sweep of the Greco-Roman gold medals at stake on the opening day of the Commonwealth Games wrestling competitions at the K.D. Jadhav Stadium in the Indira Gandhi Sports Complex here on Tuesday.
Ravinder Singh (60kg), Sanjay (74kg) and Anil Kumar (96kg) won the titles convincingly to boost India’s position in the overall medals tally.
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Ravinder, a Commonwealth champion and an Asian championship bronze medallist, won all his bouts by handsome margins. He defeated A. Kumara of Sri Lanka (7-0, 6-0) and Nigeria’s Romeo Joseph (2-0, 6-0) to book a berth in the final. In the title clash, Ravinder outsmarted Englishman Terence Bosson (2-0, 7-0). “It feels great to win the first ever Greco-Roman gold of the Commonwealth Games. All credit goes to my coaches and well-wishers,” said Ravinder.
Addinall stunned
In a keen contest, Sanjay stunned Commonwealth champion Richard Addinall of South Africa (1-0, 1-0) to land the second gold. Sanjay was a bronze medal winner in the Commonwealth championship at Jalandhar in December last.
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Earlier, Sanjay showed his power and skill to overcome Samoan Laupu Ekeroma (1-0, 2-0) and Nigerian Perefaghe Kiribein (1-0, 1-0) to set up a title clash with Addinall.
Disqualified
An attacking Anil Kumar lit up the day for India when he tamed Australia’s Hassene Fkiri in the final. The bout was stopped with Anil leading 3-0, 3-0. The referee disqualified the Aussie for indiscipline after cautioning him thrice. South African Kakoma Bella-Lufu was given the silver medal.
Anil, who had received a bye in the first round, had got the better of Mark Montgomery of Northern Ireland and warded off a strong challenge from Bella-Lufu (0-1, 1-0, 2-0) on his way to the final.
In a deviation from the normal practice in international meets, the bronze medal in each weight category was given to only one competitor.
This was according to CGF rules, explained competition manager Raj Singh.