CWG wrestling: India claim three gold medals

India made a rousing start in wrestling with a clean sweep of all the three gold medals at stake on the opening day of the event at the 19th Commonwealth Games here Tuesday.

All the three gold medals came in the Greco-Roman category, which made its debut at the Games.

Anil Kumar (96 kg), Sanjay (74 kg) and Ravinder Singh (60 kg) scored fabulous victories before a sizeable number of cheering fans at the Indira Gandhi Stadium.

Ravinder started the gold rush, humbling Terence Bosson of England 9-0 in a one-sided final. The 28-year-old Indian, a gold medallist in the Commonwealth Championship in 2007 and 2009, was in fine fettle and did not concede a single point in the three bouts he wrestled Tuesday.

Ravinder took a 2-0 lead in the first round and then overpowered Bosson, taking another seven points. The Indian had earlier defeated Nigeria’s Romeo Joseph 8-0 in the semifinal. Joseph bagged the bronze, beating Marius Loots of South Africa 4-0 in a play-off.

“I am happy to win the first Greco-Roman gold at the Commonwealth Games. There was great support for me and it kept me going. In the final, I tried to be aggressive from the beginning and grew in confidence as the bout progressed,” said Ravinder, minutes after receiving a standing ovation from the crowd.

While Ravinder began the gold charge, Anil Kumar brought it to a climax in the third final of the day that made the adrenaline rush. Anil and his opponent Hassene Fkiri of Australia were involved in a tough tussle. The tall Australian had the height advantage and tried his best to tie down Anil, but the Indian was unperturbed and won 6-0, though the one-sided scoreline gave little indication of the fierce struggle.

The Australian was cautioned twice, once for headbutting and then for slapping the Indian. The visitor was booed by the crowd and later disqualified by the referee for indiscipline. Bella-Lufu Ka of South Africa won the silver while the bronze went to Eric Feunekes of Canada.

Minutes after his victory, Anil took a victory lap with the tricolour in hand amid huge cheers.

In between, Sanjay won India’s second gold, overpowering Richard Addinall of South Africa 2-0 in a close contest. Australia’s Hasan Shahsavan won the bronze beating Perefegha Kiribein of Nigeria 3-0.

Sanjay dedicated the gold medal to his country and said: “It was a dream for me to win gold here and I am thankful to my coach and parents for their support.”

Sanjay said he had been practising hard for the Games for the last two years.

On his bout, the Indian said: “South African wrestlers are really tough. Richard gave me tough competition. I am looking forward to winning a gold in the coming (Guangzhou) Asian Games”.

Happy with the crowd support, he said: “If we continue to get this kind of support many young people will choose wrestling as a career”.