Indian women wrestlers finish second in Kazakhstan

Lalita Sehrawat of the Indian women’s wrestling team

Astana, July 26 (IANS) The Indian women's wrestling team finished second in the fifth Cup of the President of Republic of Kazakhstan which concluded here on Sunday.

The eight-member Indian team displayed a spirited performance against top grapplers and received a prize money of $10,000. Hosts Kazakhstan won the top spot while Mangolia settled for third position.

India made a good start in the event. Commonwealth Games gold medallist Vinesh (48 kg), Commonwealth Games silver medallist Lalita Sehrawat (55 kg) and Anita (63 kg) won all their bouts while Commonwealth Games silver medallist Sakshi Malik (58 kg) lost only one bout in the event. Nirmala Devi (53 kg), Sarita (60 kg), Navjot Kaur (69 kg) and Nikki (75 kg) also performed well.

"I am proud of the team and congratulate them on their performance. All the hard work and best efforts our players and support staff have put in has helped them to finish second. We still have more than a month for the World Championships and I am sure the Kazakhstan tour will help our women wrestlers to further improve their performance," Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) president Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh said.

The World Championships will be held in Las Vegas from September 7 to 12. It will be the first qualification event for the 2016 Rio Olympics.

The four-day event here was a preparatory tournament for the Worlds.