Yudhvir Singh claims Hind Kesri title

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI, OCT. 7. Yudhvir Singh notched a hard-fought 5-3 victory over his Central Industrial Security Force team-mate Surender Nad and claimed the coveted Hind Kesri title in the Indian Style National wrestling championship at the Yamuna Velodrome here on Sunday.

Watched by over 5,000 die-hard wrestling enthusiasts who vociferously applauded every trick employed by the two burly wrestlers during the 10-minute title-bout, Yudhvir managed to keep stave off Nad's challenge. He collected Rs.1,11,000, while Nad received Rs.51,000.

Uttar Pradesh's Bhagat, who surprisingly lost to Nad by fall in the first minute of their semifinal bout, took the third place, worth Rs.31,000 after receiving a walkover from Jagdish Kaliraman.

In fact, it was the semifinal between Yudhvir and Kaliraman which was the best bout of the competition. Kaliraman, tipped for the title by many experts, was craftily overpowered by Yudhvir with a whopping 13-5 margin.

Yudhvir, second best in the over 98kg category, richly deserved the prestigious title after getting the better of two more illustrious opponents in back to back contests.

Earlier, Kiran Sihag recorded a fortuitous victory over Haryana's Gitika Jakhar to keep the women's Bharat Kesri title for the fifth time in as many editions of the championship. Kiran, trailing 4-6 with 85 seconds remaining in the final, suddenly turned it around by making the most of Gitika's rather needless bid to force the issue in a hurry.

Gitika, who had beaten Kiran in their only other encounter at Rohtak 19 days back, perhaps, got carried away for a moment and tried a difficult manoeuvre in order to expedite the end but instead ended up giving Kiran an opportunity to pin her down and win by fall.

Kiran, winner of the Asian gold here in August last year, received Rs.31,000, while an understandably distraught Gitika got Rs.21,000. Delhi's Sonika Kaliraman, one of the favourites but beaten by Kiran in the semifinals, came third after a 6-1 verdict against teammate Manisha Arya.

The Bharat Kumari title went to Haryana's Sunita Sharma while statemate teammate Neha Rathi emerged the strongest in the Bal Kesri final.

Among the men, the winners in all eight weight categories of the National championship came on expected lines with Sandeep Rathi leading the way in the 86kg. It may be recalled that not so long ago, Rathi was stabbed in a fracas. He showed no signs of any discomfort though, as he overwhelmed Delhi's Tasveer 13-5 in the final.

The National champions received Rs.10,000 each, the runners-up Rs.5,100 each and the third placed, Rs.3,000 each.

The results:

Men:

Hind Kesri over 80kg (final): Yudhvir Singh (CISF) bt Surender Nad (CISF). Third place: Bhagat Singh (UP) w/o Jagdish Kaliraman (Del). Semifinals: Nad bt Bhagat; Yudhvir Singh bt Kaliraman.

Over 98kg (final): Atma Ram (BSF) bt Yudhvir Singh (CISF). Third place: Devender (CRPF) bt Wazir Singh (Raj). Semifinals: Yudhvir Singh bt Devender; Atma Ram bt Wazir Singh.

98kg (final): Satendra Dalal (Har) bt Sripal (Uttaranchal). Third place: Vinod Kumar (Del) w/o Praveen Kumar (CRPF). Semifinals: Sripal bt Vinod Kumar; Dalal bt Praveen Kumar.

86kg (final): Sandeep Rathi (CRPF) bt Tasveer Singh (Del). Third place: Dharamveer (CISF) bt Narendra (Ker). Semifinals: Tasveer bt Narendra; Rathi bt Dharamveer.

77kg (final): Sujeet Mann (Har) bt Narender Singh (CRPF). Third place: Ashok Kumar (BSF) bt Sanjay Kumar (CISF). Semifinals: Narender Singh bt Sanjay Kumar; Mann bt Ashok Kumar.

70-kg (final): Chand Ram (CRPF) bt Jagveer Singh (CISF). Third place: Pawan Kumar (Del) bt Jai Kumar (BSF). Semifinals: Chandram bt Jai Kumar; Jagveer Singh bt Pawan Kumar.

64kg (final): Satpal Yadav (CISF) bt Jitender (Del); Third place: Anil Kumar (CRPF) bt Ajit Singh (BSF). Semifinals: Jitender bt Ajit Singh; Yadav bt Anil Kumar.

59kg (final): Sushil Kumar (Del) bt Bijender Singh (CISF). Third place: Vinod Kumar (BSF) bt Manoj Kumar (Har); Semifinals: Bijender bt Manoj Kumar; Sushil Kumar bt Vinod Kumar.

55kg (final): Dharampal (CISF) bt Joginder (CRPF). Third place: Yogeshwar Dutt (Del) bt Prahlad Singh (BSF). Semifinals: Joginder bt Prahlad; Dharampal bt Dutt.

Women:

Bharat Kesri over 60kg (final): Kiran Sihag (Del) bt Gitika Jakhar (Har). Third place: Sonika Kaliraman (Del) bt Manisha Arya (Del). Semifinals: Gitika bt Manisha; Kiran bt Sonika.

Bharat Kumari 50-60kg (final): Sunita Sharma (Har) bt Alka Tomar (UP). Third place: Kamini Yadav (Del) bt Poonam Bamal (Har). Semifinals: Alka bt Kamini; Sunita bt Poonam.

Bal Kesri 40-50kg (final): Neha Rathi (Har) bt Sinu Jain (Har). Third place: Sumel (Del) bt Indu Sharma (Del). Semifinals: Neha bt Sumel; Indu bt Sinu.

Kiran Sihag of Delhi (left) and Sunita Sharma, who won the mahila Bharat Kesri and mahila Bharat Kumari title in the Indian style National Wrestling championships in New Delhi on Sunday.

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