New Delhi: Narsingh Yadav gave a flying
start to India by fetching the first gold medal for the
country on the opening day of the Senior Asian Wrestling
Championship here today.
Yadav knocked down his Iranian opponent Saeed Riahi in
the final to win gold in 74kg freestyle competition at the
Wrestling Stadium at the Indira Gandhi Sports Complex here.
The Indian first beat Ilgiz Dzhakypbekov of Kyrgyzstan to
make it to the quarterfinals and then sent Ablokulov Murodillo
of Uzbekistan packing to enter the last four stage.
Yadav knocked down Osmanov Seifaddin of Kazakhstan to
reach the final.
In the 60kg Freestyle category, Maeda Shogo of Japan
entered the final after defeating Nadyrbek Uulu of Kyrgyzstan
in the semifinal.
In 96kg Freestyle category, Reza Yazdani of Iran will
take on Katayev Nurzhan of Kazakhstan in the final.
Earlier, the contestants from 21 participating nations
walked around the wrestling ring during the opening ceremony
which exhibited the rich cultural heritage of India.
Children from the various schools of Delhi performed in
the cultural programmes.
PTI
First Published: Wednesday, May 12, 2010, 23:18