Asian Wrestling Championships: Sarita Mor defends her title; Pooja, Seema clinch bronze for India

Reigning champion Sarita Mor overcame an opening-round loss to clinch the 59kg gold medal for India by beating Shoovdor Baatarjav of Mongolia inwhat was a dramatic comeback at the Asian Wrestling Championships in Almaty on Thursday. It was India's first gold medal in the competition.

Sarita, who won the 2020 Asian Championships in New Delhi, won 10-7 in the final to take the top honours. The start was not up to the mark for Sarita as she lost 4-5 against Baatarjav in the opening round.

However, she came back in roaring fashion, winning 11-0 against Diana Kayumova of Kazakhstan in the second round by technical superiority. In the semifinal, the Indian star started in aggressive mode against Nuraida Anarkulova of Kyrgyzstan.

Thank you so much sir this is all you support & blessings 👏👏 https://t.co/pjd6SBVJK1

— sarita mor 🇮🇳 (@saritamor3) April 15, 2021

She never let her opponent open her arms and finished the bout with quick expose moves winning 11-0 to make it to the title round. It is to be noted that the competition was not a Tokyo Olympics qualification event.

Seema, Pooja won bronze medals for India

The other Indians on show, Seema and Pooja, won bronze medals in their respective weight categories.

In the 50kg category, Seema won a bronze medal for India, defeating Yung Hsun Linof Chinese Taipei 10-0. Like Sarita, Seema too had a bad start, losing her first-round bout by fall against Kazakshtan’s Valentina Ivanovna.

In the next round, Seema was on the backfoot initially trailing 0-2 against her Mongolian opponent Anudari Nandintsetseg. However, she made a strong comeback with a passivity point and a take-down and never looked back, eventually winning 7-3.

#WrestleAlmaty 76kg WW medal matches results:🥇Elmira SYZDYKOVA 🇰🇿 df Aiperi MEDET KYZY 🇰🇬, via fall🥉POOJA 🇮🇳 df Seoyeon JEONG 🇰🇷, 5-2

— United World Wrestling (@wrestling) April 15, 2021

In the semifinals against Uzbekistan’s Jasmina Immaeva, Seema faced a tough challenge before losing 2-3. Pooja, in the 76kg category, started on a positive note winning her first two bouts against Korean Seoyeon Jeong (2-0) and Uzbekistan’s Ozoda Zaripboeva (10-0).

However, the Indian failed to continue her momentum, losing to Kazak Elmira Syzdykova in the semifinals 4-0. She made up for the loss with a third-place finish beating Jeong in the bronze medal bout.

Earlier in the day, Nisha lost both her bouts in the 68kg category. She lost to Mongolia’s Delgermaa Enkhsaikhan and Korean Eun Sun Jeong in the first and second rounds respectively.