Asian Wrestling Championship: Vinesh Phogat eases into 53 kg final to stay in contention for maiden continental title

Almaty: Dominating the proceedings in a depleted field, three Indian wrestlers including Olympic bound Vinesh Phogat (53kg) and young Anshu Malik (57kg) reached their respective finals at the Asian Championship, here on Friday. There was no stopping Vinesh in the absence of the Chinese and Japanese rivals as she cruised to the summit round without losing a point and can now win her first gold medal at the Continental championship. Vinesh has had seven podium finishes at the Asian meet over the years, including three silver medals. She won by technical superiority against Mongolia’s Otgonjargal Ganbaatar and Taipei’s Meng Hsuan Hsieh while an injured Hyunyoung Oh from Korea did not turn up for the semifinal. Vinesh, who had won a bronze in the Delhi edition of the Continental championship last year, will now face Hsieh in the final. Continuing her impressive rise, Anshu, who booked an Olympic quota for herself only few days back at the same venue, reached the summit clash with ease. The 19-year-old won her first two bouts by technical superiority against Uzbekistan’s Sevara Eshmuratova and Kyrguzstan’s Nazira Marsbek Kyzy to reach the semifinal. Her quick moves and tremendous energy had her rivals gasping for breath. Up against Mongolia’s Battsetseg Altantsetseg she was leading 9-1 when the referee awarded the ‘victory by caution’ to the Indian. The Mongolian was cautioned thrice. She will fight for gold against the same Mongolian rival. Also reaching the final was Sakshi Malik, who is competing in 65kg, having missed her claim in her pet 62kg category. Competing much better than she she was doing in trials, the Rio Games bronze medallist won her first two bouts by technical superiority and was leading 3-0 against Hanbit Lee when the Korean suffered a knee injury and opted out of the contest. She will fight for gold Mongolia’s Bolortungalag Zorigt. Also doing well was Divya Kakran, who is competing in 72 category. She stunned reigning Asian Champion Zhamila Bakbergenova from Kazakhstan 8-5 en route the third round.