The Hindu : Sport : Sushil defends title in 66kg category

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Sport

Sushil defends title in 66kg category

Sports Reporter

After a two-year sabbatical Anuj Choudhary makes a strong comeback

Sushil draws the biggest applause
The contests ended in his favour in no time
Coach Satpal hails Sushil’s commitment

— Photo: Sandeep Saxena

CHAMPION IN ACTION: Olympic bronze medallist Sushil Kumar had it easy against Pankaj Rana in the National wrestling championship at Nawabganj (U.P.) on Friday.

NAWABGANJ: Olympic bronze medallist Sushil Kumar showed his class as he outsmarted his opponents to defend his 66kg gold medal at the 53rd National wrestling championship which started at the Nandini Nagar College Sports Complex, here on Friday.

After getting a bye in the first round, Sushil — representing the Railway Sports Promotion Board (RSPB) — convincingly got past Sukhraj (Rajasthan), Ramuna L. Torvi (Karnataka) and Pankaj Rana (Services) to book a berth in the final.

Sushil was the one to draw the biggest applause from the crowd as he pounced on his opponents who tried their best to give a fight to the elite grappler.

Swift and skilful

The Railway wrestler was so swift and skilful that the contests ended in his favour in no time.

Even his semifinal clash against Rana finished within one-and-a-half minutes with Sushil winning ‘by fall.’

The fans, who expected a good final bout between Sushil and Pradeep Kumar of Delhi, were left disappointed as the former was declared champion after being given a walkover.

“I am feeling good to be back in a competition after the Olympics. I am in good form and very fit. I had no trouble in winning the medal,” Sushil said after bagging the gold.

Sushil’s coach Satpal hailed the wrestler for his commitment.

“That’s Sushil for you. He could have easily skipped the event, but he gave the Nationals a boost by taking part in it,” he said.

Strong return

After a two-year sabbatical, Arjuna award winning wrestler Anuj Choudhary made a strong comeback by clinching the gold in 84kg catgory before his home crowd.

“I am thrilled to have won the gold after two years. Now, I hope to carry on my good form and look forward to the 2010 Commonwealth Games,” he said.

The Olympian wrestler said his final bout against Naresh of Delhi was very tough. “I had some good fights. Feels nice to wear the gold medal,” he said.

The medallists:

Men’s Freestyle: 55kg: Gold: Rahul Awane (Mah); Silver: Vinod Kumar (Har-A); Bronze: Balraj Singh (RSPB-A), Anil Kumar (RSPB-B).

66kg: Gold: Sushil Kumar (RSPB-A); Silver: Pradeep Kumar (Del); Bronze: Sandeep (Har-B), Sudhir Rana (WB).

84kg: Gold: Anuj Choudhary (UP); Silver: Naresh (Del); Bronze: Rambir Singh (Pun-A), Ravinder (Har-A).

Women’s freestyle: 48kg: Gold: Nirmala (Har-A); Silver: Priyanka Singh (UP); Bronze: Rekha (Chd), Sumel (Del).

55kg: Gold: Babita (Har-A); Silver: Manju Sekhawat (MP); Bronze: Kamlesh (Del), Sharmila (Del).

Greco-Roman:

55kg: Gold: Rajender (RSPB-A); Silver: Jogender (RSPB-B); Bronze: Surender (Har), Ranjeet Madhok (SSCB-A).

66kg: Gold: Gurvinder (Pun); Silver: Vikram Singh (RSPB); Bronze: Satish (Chd), Sunil (SSCB-A).

84kg: Gold: Manoj Kumar (SSCB-A); Silver: Harendra (UP); Bronze: Sanjay (RSPB-A), Santosh Sindhe (SSCB-B).