Asian Wrestling Championships: India's grappler Deepak Punia clinches silver, bronze for Viky

SportsTak

Star grappler Deepak Punia brought another glory to India as he clinched silver medal in the 86kg men's freestyle while Viky grabbed bronze in the 92kg on the final day of the Asian Wrestling Championships in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia on Sunday.


Deepak went down to Kazakhstan's Azamat Dauletbekov in the summit clash. His lone equalising point came through the activity clock.


Deepak had made it to the finals without dropping a single point. He beat Mostafavi Alanjagh of Iran 6-0 in his quarterfinal clash. He then assured himself of at least a silver with a 5-0 win over Korea's Gwanuk Kim in the semis.


This was Deepak's second consecutive silver and fourth continental medal, including two bronze.


In the 92kg bronze medal playoff, Viky beat his Uzbek opponent Ajiniyaz Saparniyazov 5-3.


In the 61kg category, Mangal Kadyan won his qualification bout before losing the quarterfinal. The Japanese wrestler who defeated Mangal made it to the final opening the repechage route for the Indian.


Mangal made it to the bronze medal playoff by defeating Kuwait's Almohaini 10-0 in the repechage round. However, Mangal lost the medal bout in heartbreaking fashion as his Kyrgyz opponent Ulukbek Zholdobeshkov scoring a two-point move in the final few seconds to win 6-4.


Yash (74kg) and Anirudh Kumar (125kg) exited early.


India finished its campaign at this edition of the continental event with a total of one gold, five silver and eleven bronze medals.


Earlier on Saturday, Ravi Dahiya's physical prowess and superior tactical acumen was on show yet again as he became the first Indian wrestler to win three gold medals at the Asian Championship but Bajrang Punia struggled badly on his return to action even as he grabbed a silver.


Tokyo Olympics silver medallist Ravi was his usual dominant self in his three bouts as he outclassed the 57kg field to emerge champion.


Gourav Balian (79kg) was impressive in his silver-winning effort while Naveen (70kg), making his senior debut and the seasoned Satyawart Kadiyan (97kg), bagged bronze medals as all five Indians in action earned podium finishes.


The 24-year-old Ravi Dahiya conceded early lead in all his bouts, but as is his wont, he bounced back in tremendous fashion to give India its first gold medal of this edition. He won the final against Kazakhstan's Rakhat Kalzhan by technical superiority.


It was his second final of the season, having won a silver at the Dan Kolov event in February.


Ravi, who hails from Nahri village in Sonepat, outsmarted Japan's Rikuto Arai (VSU) and pulled off a comprehensive 12-5 win over Mongolia's Zanabazar Zandanbud en route the final.