Bajrang, Pinki clinch gold in Turkey; Sakshi flops
NEWDELHI: Bajrang Punia won his second consecutive international gold while Sandeep Tomar had to be content with a silver medal at the Yasar Dogu International as Indian wrestlers returned with 10 medals, including seven by women, from the ranking event in Istanbul, Turkey.
In the women’s competition, Pinki was the lone gold medallist in the 55kg category with her 6-3 win over Ukraine’s Olga Shnaider in the final but Olympic bronze medallist Sakshi Malik endured a disappointing result as she failed to reach the medal round in the 62kg category.
Overall Indian women grapplers outperformed the men’s by winning seven medals.
CWG champion Bajrang, who won a gold at the Tbilisi Grand Prix in Gerogia early this month, did not have to break a sweat as his gold medal opponent Andriy Kvyatkovskyy from Ukraine withdrew from the 70kg final due to an injury.
In the 61kg final, Sandeep, who was the last Indian to grab a place in Indian men’s Asian Games squad, lost 2-8 to Iran’s Mohammadbagher Yakhkeshi.
SOURABH WINS RUSSIAN OPEN CROWN
VLADIVOSTOCK, RUSSIA: Former national champion Sourabh Verma pulled off a come-from-behind win over Japan’s Koki Watanabe in the summit clash to claim his first title of the season at the USD 75,000 Russia Open Tour Super 100 tournament in Vladivostock on Sunday.
The 25-year-old Indian, who is on a comeback trail after recovering from injuries, overcame Watanabe 19-21, 21-12, 21-17 in the finals that lasted exactly an hour at the Sport Hall Olympic.
Second seeded Indian mixed doubles pair of Rohan Kapoor and Kuhoo Garg, however, suffered a 19-21 17-21 loss to Russia’s Vladimir Ivanov and Min Kyung Kim of Korea in the finals to settle for a runners-up finish.
Speaking after his victory, Sourabh said he is still a work in progress and needs improvement in certain areas.
“I’m progressing but still have to improve certain areas in my game. Next for me is Asian games
and I’m already working on my strength, which will help me to continue playing in the circuit and do well,” he said.
Sourabh had earlier won the All India senior ranking tournament in Bangalore to make the cut for the Asian Games squad.