Star India grappler Vinesh Phogat won her second consecutive gold in 53kg, winning the Yasar Dogu International with a commanding victory over Russia’s Ekaterina Poleshchuk, here.
The top Indian woman wrestler, who stood atop the podium at Grand Prix of Spain last week, beat her Russian opponent 9-5 in the final of the UWW ranking series tournament. Vinesh’s was third gold in the women’s competition for India after Seema (50kg) and Manju (59kg) triumphed in their respective categories.
En route the gold medal bout, Vinesh won two of her three bouts by Technical Superiority. Divya Kakran (68kg), who won a gold in Madrid, and Pooja Dhanda (57kg), who won a silver, did not reach the medal rounds. While Divya could not clear the qualification round, Pooja lost in the quarterfinals.
Sakshi Malik, who was making a comeback after a minor injury, did not reach the medal rounds. Sakshi lost her pre-quarterfinal but later got a chance to be in contention for a bronze medal but lost the repechage round by a close margin to Russia’s Uliana Tukurenova.
In the men’s freestyle, Rahul Aware (61kg) had clinched his first career Ranking Series title with a tactical 4-1 victory over Munir Aktas of Turkey. Utkarsh Kale had won bronze in the same category.
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Deepak Punia settled for silver in the 86kg after losing the final to Azerbaijan’s Aleksandr Gostiyev 2-7. Sumit added to India’s tally by winning a bronze in the 125kg.
In the absence of Bajrang Punia, it was Sonba Tanaji Gongane, who competed in the 65kg but lost his bronze medal bout to Turkey’s Cengizhan Erdogan by Technical Superiority.
Rajneesh (70kg) and Viky (92kg) too lost their bronze medal bout while Amit Dhankar (74kg) and Styawart Kadiyan (97kg) could not even cross their qualification rounds.
