Chirag Chikkara clinches gold at U23 World Wrestling Championships
Chikkara, competing in the men's freestyle 57kg category, eked out a narrow 4-3 in the closing seconds of the final win over Abdymalik Karachov of Kyrgyzstan
PTI
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Chirag Chikkara became only the third Indian to become Under-23 world champion a
Tirana (Albania), 28 Oct
Chirag Chikkara became only the
third Indian to become Under-23 world champion as India capped a rich haul of
nine medals, including a gold and silver each, at the age group tournament here.
Chikkara, competing in the men's freestyle
57kg category, eked out a narrow 4-3 in the closing seconds of the final win
over Abdymalik Karachov of Kyrgyzstan. He becomes the second Indian man, after
Paris Olympics bronze medallist Aman Sehrawat, to win the gold at the U23
Championships.
Sehrawat had achieved the feat in
the same category in the 2022 edition of the meet while Reetika Hooda had
become the first Indian woman to bag a gold at the tournament when she won in
the 76kg category last year. Ravi Kumar Dahiya had also won a silver in the U23
World Championships in 2018.
Chikkara reached the final after a
series of dominant performances, defeating Gaukoto Ozawa 6-1 in the
pre-quarterfinals, Iunus Iavbatirov 12-2 in the last eight stage and Allan
Oralbek 8-0 in the semifinals.
India's medal haul in the men’s
freestyle category also included two bronze medals, placing the nation fourth
in the team standings with 82 points, trailing Iran (158), Japan (102), and
Azerbaijan (100). India also won two more bronze in men's freestyle taking the
country's medal count in the category to four that secured the nation a fourth
place in the team rankings.
Iran topped the team rankings with
158 points followed by Japan (102), Azerbaijan (100) and INida (82).
Vicky defeated former U20 World
Championships silver medalist and European junior champion Ivan Prymachenko of
Ukraine with a convincing 7-2 margin to win bronze in the men's 97kg freestyle
event. It is the highest weight category at which India have medalled at this
tournament.
Vicky had defeated Merab
Suleimanishvili of Georgia via fall in round of 16, Radu Lefter of Moldova 5-0
in quartefinal before losing to Mahdi Hajiloueian Morafah of Iran in
semifinals.
Having narrowly missed a final
berth the other day, Sujeet Kalkal bounced back from being 0-4 down to beat
Mustafo Akhmedov of Tajikistan 13-4 and win bronze in men's 70kg freestyle.
Sujeet had beaten Georgi Antoanov
Zhizgov 10-0 in round of 32, Tugsjargal Erdenebat 7-4 in pre-quarters, Narek
Pohosian 6-1 before losing to eventual gold medallist Magomed Basihr Khaniev
4-8 in the final seconds the semifinal.
Abhishek Dhaka had earlier won a
bronze as India finished with four medals (one gold and three bronze),
bettering their previous year's performance where they had bagged two bronze in
the freestyle category.
The Indian women’s wrestling team
also excelled earlier, bringing home one silver and three bronze medals: Anjli
claimed silver in the 59kg category, while Neha Sharma (57kg), Shiksha (65kg),
and Monika (68kg) each secured bronze.
Additionally, Vishvajit More earned
a bronze in the men’s 55kg Greco-Roman category, rounding off India’s
impressive tally at the championships.
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