Commonwealth Games 2018, Gold Coast: Wrestlers Bajrang Punia, Mausam Khatri reach finals

Gold Coast: Indian wrestlers Bajrang Punia and Mausam Khatri entered the finals of their respective freestyle categories at the 21st Commonwealth Games (CWG) in Gold Coast on Friday.

Bajrang came up with an awe-inspiring performance to win all his bouts by technical superiority and enter the summit clash of the men's 65-kilogram category in style.

Bouts are awarded on the basis of technical superiority when a wrestler takes a lead of 10 or more points.

Khatri entered the final of the men's 97kg category.

Bajrang overpowered Vincent De Marinis of Canada in the semi-finals.

He had started his campaign with a power-packed display against Brahm Richards of New Zealand.

The Indian needed only a couple of minutes to beat Richands by technical superiority.

Bajrang executed a couple of two-point moves to go 4-0 up within the first 30 seconds. He then pulled off a gut wrench to flip his opponent over which earned him another four points.

Bajrang almost pulled off a pin but the Kiwi survived somehow with some desperate defending. But another two-point move by the Indian finished off the contest.

In the quarter-finals, Bajrang outclassed Amas Daniel of Nigeria, building up a 10-0 lead early in the second round.

The domination continued in the semi-finals Bajrang pulled off a series of two-point moves to take an 8-0 lead in the first round.

Another takedown just after the break earned him the win and a place in the final.

Bajrang will take on Kane Charig of Wales for the gold medal.

Khatri also dominated his division, starting his campaign with a technical superiority win over Alexios Kaouslidis of Cyprus.

Khatri was too good for his opponent, scoring three four-point moves to wrap up the issue in less than a minute.

He faced a more difficult task in the semi-finals, needing two full rounds to take a 10-7 win over beat Soso Tamarau of Nigeria.