Birmingham: Tokyo Olympics silver medalist Ravi Dahiya, veteran Vinesh Phogat, and Naveen Kumar competed in the Commonwealth Games 2022 wrestling event here on Saturday, and won the Gold Medal. Dahiya won the gold medal in the men’s freestyle 57kg event after defeating Nigeria’s Abikevenimo Welson 10:0 by technical superiority.
At the same time, leaving behind the failure of the Tokyo Olympics, and mental and physical struggles of the past, Vinesh created history by winning 4.0 in the women’s 53kg category by defeating Chamodia Keshani Maduravalage Don of Sri Lanka in a matter of seconds.
Naveen Kumar then defeated Pakistan’s Mohammad Sharif Tahir 9-0 in the 74kg category to give India its sixth gold medal in wrestling. This is India’s 34th medal in Commonwealth Games.
Vinesh’s first match against World Championship bronze medalist Samantha Lee Stewart of Canada was tough but she won in just 36 seconds. Vinesh then faced Nigeria’s Mercy Bolafunoluwa Adekuroye, whose tough challenge was met well by the Indian wrestler. There were only four wrestlers in the women’s 53 kg category. Struggling for form and fitness, Vinesh had crashed out of the Tokyo Olympics in the first round.
