Asian Wrestling Championships 2021: Ravi Dahiya clinches gold in 57 kg freestyle, Bajrang Punia bags silver in 65 kg

Indian wrestler Ravi Kumar Dahiya (57kg) on Saturday claimed gold at the Asian Wrestling Championships being held in Almaty, Kazakhstan. But compatriot Bajrang Punia pulled-out of the summit clash due to an injury.

Narsingh Pancham Yadav (74kg) and Karan (70kg) settled for bronze medals in their respective categories.

For the Tokyo-bound wrestler medal prospect, Bajrang Punia (65 kg), it was a regular day at the office, having breezed past Yongseok Jeong in his opening bout, while he overcame Mongolia’s Bilguun Sarmandakh in the following tie to enter the summit clash.

Despite the run, Punia eventually had to pull out against Japan's Takuto Otoguro in the gold medal bout after suffering an injury, settling for a silver by default.

Having returned to competitive wrestling after a year, Ravi Kumar Dahiya (57kg) started cautiously, but got back into his groove thereafter, scripting a 9-2 win over Uzbekistan’s Nodirjon Safarov in the opener.

News Flash: Ravi Kumar Dahiya wins GOLD medal (57kg) in Asian Wrestling Championships after beating Iranian grappler 9-4 in a grueling Final. Its 2nd consecutive Asian Championships title for Ravi, who has already secured berth for #Tokyo2020 pic.twitter.com/bIJx2qgEx2

— India_AllSports (@India_AllSports) April 17, 2021

The Olympic-bound athlete pipped Palestine’s Ali M M Aburumalia on technical superiority to reach the title match. Punia finished the job with ease, having outclassed Iran’s Nosratolah Sarlak in the penultimate bout to claim a top-podium finish and retain his Asian title.

Karan and Narsingh Pancham Yadav claim Bornze medals

Just in: Karan wins Bronze medal (70 kg) in Asian Wrestling Championships after beating Korean grappler 3-1. pic.twitter.com/AYFAKkREVX

— India_AllSports (@India_AllSports) April 17, 2021

Meanwhile Karan, competing in the men’s 70kg category edged past Iran's Ali Khalil Shabanibengar in the quarter-finals, before losing 0-6 to Syrbaz Talgat of Kazakhstan in the last four. Aiming for bronze, the grappler scripted a clinical 3-1 win over Korea's Seungbong Lee to add another medal to India's tally.

On the other hand, Narsingh Pancham Yadav (79kg) also bagged a bronze medal, after his lop-sided 8-2 win over Iraq's AlGburi.

Meanwhile, the Indian women have already made their mark, having claimed seven medals, including four top-podium finishes: Vinesh Phogat (53 kg), Anshu Malik (57kg), Sarita Mor (59 kg) and Divya Kakran (72 kg).