Wrestling / Bajrang and Ravi get gold in Rome ranking series, gold winner Vinesh said- Olympic preparations on right track
Indian wrestlers Bajrang Punia and Ravi Dahiya won gold in the Rome Ranking Series Wrestling Championship. Bajrang defeated America’s Jordan Oliver 4-3 on Saturday night in the 65 kg category. At the same time, Ravi Dahiya defeated Noorbolat Abduliev of Kazakhstan 6–0 in the 57 kg category. Earlier, Vinesh Phogat gave India the first gold of the year. He said that the preparations for the Olympics are going on the right track.
Vinesh won the gold in the 53kg women’s category defeating Ecuador’s Louisa Elizabeth Valverde. Vinesh reached the final after defeating China’s Qianyu Pang 4-2 in the semi-finals. While Bajrang Poonia defeated Vesil Shupatar of Ukraine 6-4 in the semi-finals. Two other wrestlers from India have also won silver. Sunil Kumar and Anshu Malik won these medals in 57 kg.
‘Year is important for us’
Vinesh said, “The year is important for us. This tells Gold that my Olympic preparations are on track. Participation in such an international event makes training a test. It tells whether the preparation is going well or not. “
18 year old Anshu wins silver
Apart from Bajrang, Ravi and Vinesh, 18-year-old Anshu Malik, Sajan Bhawal, Gurpreet Singh and Sunil Kumar have also won medals for the country. Anshu won silver in the 87 kg women’s category, while Gurpreet Singh (82 kg) became the first Greco-Roman wrestler to win gold for the country. Gurpreet defeated Turkish wrestler Burhan Ekbudak.
