India lose to NZ, to play for bronze
GOLD COAST : The game is about scoring goals and the Indian men’s hockey team did not do that enough here. Profligacy has been a bug that has bothered Indian hockey for long and it came to haunt Sjoerd Marijne’s squad as it failed to put it across a lowerranked New Zealand, losing the semifinal 2-3 against a team it had beaten twice in New Zealand a few months ago.
It came down to who scored on the day and New Zealand were superior in that department.
India, on the other hand, dominated possession, 52-48%, penetrated the circle 30 times as compared to 18 by the Black Caps and earned nine penalty corners as compared to three by their rivals.
Drag-flicker Harmanpreet Singh scored both the goals for India (30th and 56th minute) while Hugo Inglis (7th), Stephen Jenness (13th) Marcus Child (40th) were successful for New Zealand.
India started off well and it was forward Mandeep Singh who got the first chance in the second minute but fired it wide. India earned the first penalty corner in the next minute but Harmanpreet’s shot was blocked by goalkeeper Ruchard Joyce.
Three minutes later, New Zealand went ahead when Inglis dispossessed Harmanpreet, drove into the circle and put a powerful reverse hit past goalkeeper PR Sreejesh. The Black Caps made it 2-0 a few minutes later when when Jared Panchia controlled the ball after a poor trap by Manpreet Singh and set up Jenness for a goal. India were struggling after that as they created a number of chances but failed to capitalise. GOLDCOAST: Indian wrestlers continued to prove their mettle on the mat by winning four medals, including a gold, on the second day of the wrestling competition.
Bajrang Punia was the star of the show as he demolished his opponents to win gold in the 65kg category. Pooja Dhanda (57kg) and Mausam Khatri (97kg) lost their final bouts to finish with silver while Divya Kakran settled for bronze in the 68kg women’s competition.
India have won eight medals in wrestling so far, getting to the podium in each category. With four more weight categories lined up on Saturday, the tally is going to swell.
Bajrang, the 2013 World Championships bronze medallist, has lived under the shadow of mentor Yogeshwar Dutt. But with the London Olympics bronze medallist retiring, the 24-year-old Bajrang grabbed the opportunity with both hands.
Doing justice to his talent, Bajrang won his four bouts on technical superiority and wrapped up the final against Welshman Kane Charig in just over a minute. He defeated New Zealand’s Brahm Richards, Nigeria’s Amas Daniel and Canada’s Vincent De Marinis to reach the final.
“This gold proves the significant improvement in my wrestling. I had won silver at the previous Games. I played four bouts and I was prepared for the competition,” said Bajrang.
“I didn’t see the time but I wanted to finish the final as quickly as possible.”
Another young wrestler Pooja played her heart out in the final against defending champion Odunayo Adekuoroye of Nigeria but lost 5-7. In fact, Pooja was trailing 1-6 but launched a fierce attack in the last few seconds to close the gap. The Nigerian heaved a sigh of relief and broke into an impromptu dance after the win. Pooja was a find in the Pro Wrestling League this season as the 24-year-old had stunned reigning world and Olympic champion Helen Maroulis of the US twice.
“If I had performed the way I fought in the second round, I could have won. I lacked in attack and could not take my chances. I would look to to change the colour of the medal next time,” she said.
Khatri, who was making his debut at the Games, lost to South African Martin Erasmus 12-2.
Divya lost to Nigeria’s Blessing Oborududu in the semi-final before getting the better of Bangladesh’s Sherin Sultana for a bronze
medal.
FIVE BOXERS IN FINALS
Asian Games medallists Vikas Krishan (75kg) and Satish Kumar (+91kg) were among the five Indian boxers who entered the finals on Friday, while three others settled for bronze medals.
Joining Vikas and Satish in the finals was the fast-rising trio of Amit Panghal (49kg), Gaurav Solanki (52kg) and Manish kaushik (60kg).
But teenager Naman Tanwar (91kg), former CWG gold-medallist Manoj Kumar (69kg) and Mohammed Husammuddin (56kg) had to be content with bronze medals.
Among the third-place finishers, Husammuddin lost 0-5 to Peter Mcgrail of England. Manoj was beaten by England’s Pat Mccormack, while the 19-yearold Naman bowed out to local favourite Jason Whateley.
As for the winners, Satish’s victory was the most awe-inspiring as the Indian’s thrashing of Seychelles Keddy Agnes forced his team to throw in the towel in the first round. Vikas defeated Steven Donnelly of Northern Ireland 5-0.
Manish edged past Northern Ireland’s James Mcgivern in a closely-contested bout to win 4-1. The 22-year-old, who claimed a gold medal at the Asian Games test event, was at the receiving end of some clean hitting by Mcgivern but pulled off just enough to get the judges’ nod.
In the flyweight 52kg category, Gaurav got the better of Sri Lanka’s M Ishan Bandara.
Amit had an easy outing against Uganda’s Juma Miiro, completely dominating the light flyweight 49kg semifinal.