Wrestling

Deepak Punia won the bout 3-0 on points to claim his first gold medal in Commonwealth Games. It was a bout between wrestlers from arch-rivals India and Pakistan but it did not live up to that hype as Punia imposed himself on his opponent early and did not give him many chances. Scoring chances were few as the Pakistani wrestler was totally defensive and his movements too were a bit restricted. He had his left leg strapped at the knee and looked to keep it away from any attack.

Anshu Malik lost in the final while Mohit Grewal and Divya Kakran bagged a bronze each as India came off the wrestling mat on Friday with three gold, one silver and two bronze medals. This took India's tally to 9 gold, 8 silver and 9 bronze medals for a total of 26 medals so far in Birmingham. In lawn bowls, the Indian Men's Fours set themselves to emulate their woman counterparts as they reached the final, beating England 13-12 in the semifinal and set up themselves for a summit clash.

The Sports Ministry, through the Ministry of External Affairs, got in touch with the British High Commission to seek the UK Visa for Bajrang, which has now been obtained. On several occasions, the MEA has consistently helped the Sports Ministry to facilitate the visa of athletes travelling abroad for competition and training ahead of the CWG.

Despite a win, it was an unimpressive result from him as the Indian contingent was expecting a better outing from the world championships silver medallist in the tournament. In the opening two rounds, the 23-year-old Punia lost to eventual gold medallist Azizbek Fayzullaev of Uzbekistan and Nurtilek Karypbaev of Kyrgyzstan.

With the two more medals, India concluded the United World Wrestling's ranking series with 11 medals - six golds, one silver, and four bronze. Five of the golds were won by women. Aman Sehrawat overcame a stiff challenge from Kazakhstan's Meirambek Kartbay in the opening round of 57kg to win 15-12.

Bipasha and Sushma Shokeen also won silver and bronze, respectively, to take India's medal tally to nine medals -- five gold, one silver, and three bronze medals -- in the ranking series. Sarita, a two-time Asian champion, won all her three bouts on the day via technical superiority. Competing in the women's 59 kg category, Sarita blanked Kazakhstan's Diana Kayumova 11-0 in the opening round and then beat another local challenger Aizhan Ismagulova 12-2 in the semifinals.

Mansi bagged the other gold for India in the women's 57kg wrestling while Pooja claimed the bronze medal in the 76 kg category on the second day of the competition. Earlier on the opening day, Indian wrestler Neeraj won the 63kg Greco Roman bronze medal on Thursday. Sakshi, who won a bronze medal in the 2016 Rio Olympics in 58 kg, defeated the experienced Irina Kuznetsova of Kazakhstan by fall (VFA) 7-4.

However, this time, during the 2022 Commonwealth Games trials, fans noticed something unheard-of! A referee was allegedly attacked by a wrestler during a high-profile event. The incident happened at the KD Jadhav hall of the IG stadium here on Tuesday, right in front of Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) president Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh.

Former wrestlers and coaches, eminent sports journalists, and law enforcement officials weigh in with their experiences, insights, and memories in the two-part 'Dangals of Crime'. The 'Dangals of Crime' features two-time Olympic medallist wrestler Sushil Kumar who is lodged in Delhi's Tihar Jail and is being investigated in connection with a murder case.

A former World Championship bronze medallist Geeta, who returned to competitive wrestling for the first time since becoming a mother in 2018, had to be satisfied with a silver in the women's 59 kg category on Friday. She had cruised to the final with ease where she found Railways' Sarita Mor, also a bronze medallist at the World Championship, a tough nut to crack and lost.