Sushil wins gold in Asian Wrestling

Olympic bronze medallist Sushil Kumar lived up to his reputation as he bagged a gold in men's 66kg freestyle on the second day of the Senior Asian Wrestling Championships in New Delhi.

Sushil, also a four-time Commonwealth Championship gold medallist, produced an impressive performance to toy with Kim Dae Sung of Korea in straight periods 4-0, 2-0 at the Indira Gandhi Indoor Sports Complex.

With Sushil winning the yellow gold, India's medal tally in the championships swelled to two gold. Narshing Yadav had won a gold in the 74kg freestyle.

"It feels good to be the Asian Champion. This win gives a boost to my confidence before important events like World Championship and the Commonwealth Games. It was a tough fight in the finals, but I was lucky to get the first grip, from where I never looked back," said Sushil after his win.

Other Indians, however, fell outside the medal bracket.

Rajiv Tomar finished fifth in the 120kg freestyle after losing to Iran's Mohd Azars in straight periods 0-1, 1-1 in quarterfinal.

Anuj Kumar was also beaten in 84kg freestyle category by Zhang Feng of China in the second round, while Rahul Aware lost to Lee Woo Ju of Korea in the second round of the 55kgfreestyle.

It was a close bout in the 84 kg category for the wounded Iranian wrestler Lashgari Ehsan who defended his title outclassing Semonov S from Kazakhstan. Lashgari went down to Semenov in the first round 6-0 but came back strongly winning the next two rounds with a score of 1-0 and 2-0.

Earlier, Lashgari got wounded on his head wrestling against Zang Feng of China in the semifinal. Lashgari won the bout in straight rounds with a score of 6-0 and 3-1.

Japanese Yomoto Shinichi bagged gold in the 55kg category defeating Uzbek Kurbanov Nasibullo 1-0 and 1-0. Lee Woo Ju of Korea and Yang Gyong Ji of the People's Republic of Korea were the bronze medallists in the category.

In the 120kg category, Mutalimov Marid of Kazakhstan defeated Mongolian G Chuluunbat in straight rounds to bag the gold.

Women freestyle events start tomorrow with Alka Tomar (48kg), Babita (51kg), Geetika Jakhar (51kg), Geeta (55lg) and Anmol (55kg) representing India in the test event for the October 3-14 Commonwealth Games.