Golden return for Sushil in Jo’burg
New Delhi, Dec. 17: Double Olympic medallist Sushil Kumar made a glorious return to the international arena by clinching a gold medal at the Commonwealth Wrestling Championships in Johannesburg, South Africa, on Sunday.
Later, Sakshi Malik won gold, defeating New Zealand’s Tayla Tuahine Ford 13- 2 in the 62kg women’s freestyle final.
Returning to international wrestling after over three years, Sushil defeated New Zealand Akash Khullar’s via a pinfall in the final of the 74kg freestyle category to clinch the yellow metal.
It was his first medal in international wrestling since his gold medal in the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.
It was double celebration for India as other wrestler in same category, Parveen Rana clinched a bronze medal.
Sushil returned to competitive wrestling in November at the senior nationals in Indore, where he won gold amid controversy after getting three walkovers from his fellow wrestlers.
Incidentally, Rana gave him a walkover in the Indore final, but on Sunday Sushil came out on top with a 5- 4 victory margin. In his first bout, Sushil defeated Johannes Petrus Botha of South Africa 8- 0 followed by the win over Rana. Sushil also beat Canada’s Jasmit Singh Phulka by fall en route to his gold medal. Soon after the victory, Sushil, who claimed bronze in the 2008 Olympics and then a silver in the 2012 London Games, dedicated the win to his motherland and coach.
— PTI Dubai, Dec. 17: P. V. Sindhu lost to world no. 2 Akane Yamaguchi of Japan in the women’s singles summit clash of the BWF Superseries Finals on Sunday.
In the season- ending tournament finale, world no. 3 Sindhu played her heart out before losing 2115, 12- 21, 19- 21 to Yamaguchi in an energysapping clash that lasted an hour and 31 minutes.
The 22- year- old finished runner- up once again in her third major tournament, following last year’s Rio Olympics and this year’s Glasgow World Championship.
In scenes similar to the Glasgow World Championship final in August, the final went down to the wire. Playing in her season’s fourth final, Sindhu led 10- 8 before entering the break with a threepoint lead. After the interval, Sindhu moved to 13- 8. Yamaguchi narrowed the lead to 13- 14.
Sindhu opened up a fivepoint lead to pocket the first game in 23 minutes.
In the second, Sindhu zoomed to a 5- 0 lead and then 6- 2. Yamaguchi made it 7- 8, opening up a 10- 8 lead after winning an exhausting rally, entering the break ahead by two points.
The Japanese consolidated the lead to 15- 11 and claimed the claimed the second game easily.
In the decider, Sindhu opened up a 4- 0 lead, winning a 51- shot rally, but couldn’t prevent Yamaguchi from squaring it at 5- 5. Sindhu maintained a 8- 6 advantage but her opponent kept coming back. At 15- 15, the lead exchanged hands. The fierce battle continued till Yamaguchi’s prompt return put her ahead 1918. The Indian netted twice to hand the title to Yamaguchi.
In the men’s final, world no. 1 and defending champion Denmark’s Viktor Axelsen came from a game down to defeat Malaysia’s Lee Chong Wei 19- 21, 21- 19, 21- 15.
In women’s doubles, Koharu Yonemoto and Shiho Tanaka defeated Yuki Fukushima and Sayaka Hirota 21- 16, 21- 15.
China’s Chen Qingchen and Zheng Siwei defeated Hong Kong’s Tang Chun Mans and Tse Ying Suet 21- 15, 22- 20 in the mixed doubles final.