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Tuesday, March 19
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Haryana grappler gtes cheer to the Indian camp with first gold, hockey women win


Mangalore Today News Network

Jakarta, Aug 20, 2018 : The favourite,  he fought very much like one — with skill, with tact and with all his will. And ultimately, it was that determination that made all the difference on the day for Bajrang Punia.

 

jakarta 20 aug 18


India’s contender in the 65kg class of Asian Games wrestling, Bajrang faced an almighty challenge from Japan’s Daichi Takatani in the final. Takatani had answers to almost every question that Bajrang posed while the Indian seemed to struggle at times to tackle his rival’s moves.

In a no-holds-barred contest that went to the wire, Bajrang eventually prevailed 11-8, surviving a challenge raised by the Japanese in the final second to hoist India’s first gold medal of these Games. It was his first Asian Games gold too, with a silver in the 61kg category in Incheon 2014 his previous best effort.

“It is wrestling, you have to fight hard to succeed, nothing comes easy,” said Bajrang, bruised but happy that he had vindicated the faith shown by his mentor Yogeshwar Dutt, the winner of this category at Incheon.

On a day when all the other four Indian wrestlers — including Sushil Kumar — fell short, all eyes were on Bajrang. After a slow start, the Commonwealth Games champion was in devastating form in the early rounds. He trailed 0-3 against Uzbekistan’s Sirojiddin Khasanov before surging to a 13-3 win, underlining his technical superiority.

The same story was repeated in the next two rounds, against Abdulqosim Fayziev of Tajikistan in the quarterfinals and Batchuluun of Mongolia in the semifinals. Fayziev was beaten 12-2 while Batchuluun was outclassed, with a 10-0 score again netting Bajrang a win by technical superiority.

Fighting aggressively, Bajrang quickly took a 6-0 lead in the final but he was caught unawares when Takatani went for his leg twice in succession, taking down the Indian. Bajrang led 6-4 at the end of the first period but the Japanese drew level soon after restart. Bajrang’s defence came to the fore in these tricky situations as he held on, thwarting the Japanese from taking complete control.

Then came the crucial moment when the Indian turned the tables on Takatani, going for his leg and earning two points with a take down. Fighting tooth and nail, the Japanese came back and with seconds left, it was 10-8 in favour of the Indian. Japanese challenged it but the call went India’s way, with the final score reading 11-8.

Tension was high in the stands but Bajrang said he was cool. “Ups and downs happen in wrestling, I just focused on the task on hand,” he said.

Crediting his coach Shako Bentinidis for changing his style, Bajrang said: “I have won for four gold after I started training with new coach. Every aspect of my game has changed, power, technique, speed.”

Of the other Indians, Sandeep Tomar bowed to Reza Atrinagharchi of Iran and in the 57kg and  Mausam Khatri lost to Magomed Ibragimov of Uzbekistan in the 96kg class quarterfinals. Pawan Kumar came through the repechage rounds but lost the bronze medal bout against Uitumen Orgodol of Mongolia in the 86kg class.

Indian eves hammer Indonesia  :  Drag-flicker Gurjit Kaur scored a hat-trick as the Indian women’s hockey team thrashed lowly Indonesia 8-0 in their Pool B game to begin its Asian Games campaign on a rousing note here on Sunday.

Gurjit found the target in the 16th, 22nd and 57th minutes while Vandana Katariya (13th and 27th) struck twice. Udita (6th), Lalremsiami (24th) and Navneet Kaur (50th) were the other Indian scorers.

India had as many as 31 shots at Indonesian goal.

India took the lead in the sixth minute with Udita scoring a fine field goal as she lobbed the ball into the net from close range off a rebound from Namita Toppo’s shot.

In the 13th minute, Vandana made it 2-0 for India with a superb goal after a slick interchange of passes. Just a minute into the second quarter, India took 3-0 lead with Gurjit finding the target with her drag-flick off a penalty corner.

In the 22nd minute, Gurjit’s another drag-flick made it 4-0 for India.

The goal spree continued with Lalremsiami making it 5-0 two minutes later and in the 27th minute, India were 6-0 up as Vandana scored her second goal of the match through a penalty corner. The Indians led 6-0 at half time.

The Indians scored again in the 50th minute with Navneet tapping in the ball from close range. Three minutes from the final hooter, Gurjit completed his hat-trick with a powerful flighted shot from a penalty corner. India will take on Kazakhstan in their next match.


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