Wrestling: Haryana emerge best team in U-23 Jr nationals

Haryana wrestlers dominated the Tata Motors Under-23 National Wrestling Championship as their men won four of 10 gold medals, mostly in heavier weight categories of the freestyle events which ended at the Gora Badi Indoor Stadium here on Sunday.

They also won a silver and four bronze medals which were good enough for the state wrestlers to get the top perch and the overall championship title.

The Haryana wrestlers logged 195 points, with Delhi closely behind (165) and Maharashtra at 139 points for the second and third spots.

All the gold medal winners will represent India in the Bucharest Under-23 World Championships to be held in the Romanian capital from November 12 to 18.

Hosts Rajasthan bagged two bronze medals through Lado Jat (70 kg) and Rahul Rathi (79 kg) to register their presence in the meet, being organized in the fort city for the first time.

Delhi bagged two gold medals while Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab and Maharashtra wrestlers won a gold each.

As for the results in various categories, Ravi Kumar of Delhi beat Sagar of Maharashtra 10-4 in 57 kg. Arun of Haryana in 61 kg class downed Vinas Kumar of Uttar Pradesh also 10-4 in few of the one-sided finals of the day.

In 65 kg, Surjeet of Delhi overcame Maharashtra's Akshay for the gold and in 70 kg class Naveen of Jharkhand beat Haryana's Jasbir 9-3 in what was a tough bout with points accumulated by the former in a flurry in the second and third rounds.

In heavier weight categories like 75 kg, 79 kg and 92 kg classes, Haryana's Praveen beat Kumar Lahu of Maharashtra 15-3, Dinesh downed Sandeep Mann of Punjab 4-3 in one of the best bouts of the day and Sunil Kumar overcame Kiran of Karnataka 5-3 respectively.

In between, Upas Sharma from Uttar Pradesh accounted for Nishant Gujar of Uttarakhand in 86 kg 4-3, also a close bout, while Punjab's Karandeep Singh beat Nasir Hussain of Delhi in 97 kg 12-3. The Punjab wrestler dominated right from the word go.

In 125 kg category, the lone medal for Maharashtra came when wrestler Abhijit beat Services opponent Sanjay 7-2.

The event, introduced for the first time by the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI), was with a view to scout talent and to identify a team for the coming U-23 World Championship.

"I am impressed with the way Rajasthan has hosted the championship. I am equally happy that we could identify a good team in all three categories for the U-23 World Championship in Romania," said WFI President Brij Bhushan Saran.

--IANS

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