NEW DELHI: Viresh Kundu saved the day for India by winning an exciting battle against Korea’s Jeongyul Kwon to claim a bronze medal in the 97kg category while four of his compatriots bit the dust on the second day of the Asian Junior Wrestling Championships here on Wednesday.
Viresh, who hails from Uttar Pradesh and trains in Zirakpur, won 14-5 against his Korean opponent before the first three-minute period was completed, winning by technical superiority.
It’s the first international level medal for the 20-year-old. Kundu had got past China’s Yiming Li 8-6 in the quarterfinals before losing his close semifinal 6-8 to Iran’s Vahid Dadkhah Ghasem Abadi.
Of the five Indian Greco Roman wrestlers in action today, only two reached the medal rounds. Malkit Hooda was outclassed 0-7 by Iran’s Sajad Ali Imentalabfoumani in the 67kg bronze medal bout. Sachin Rana (60kg), Kuldeep Malik (72kg) and Sanjeet (82kg) failed to make it to medal round.
The Greco Roman style competition ended today with India finishing with five medals, including one gold, two silver and two bronze medals. India finished fourth in team rankings with 129 points while Iran won the team title with 225 points.
Kazakhstan (147) finished second and was followed by Kyrgyzstan (135). Viresh ensured that the hosts do not return empty-handed as he came from behind to win against the Korean. In an aggressive strart, Kwon nosed ahead with a two-point move but Viresh levelled the points quickly. A defensive lapse from Kwon meant that Viresh succeeded in employing a gut wrench move and then while going for another roll, he managed to expose the Korean to take a 6-2 lead. (PTI)
