Sushil Kumar won gold in the men's 74-kg category wrestling competition at the 21st Commonwealth Games in Australia on Thursday, 12 April.
Sushil defended his crown in the 74-kg category, which he had won at the 2014 edition in Glasgow, Scotland. The Haryanvi wrestler barely spent any time on the mat – his final lasting was just a minute and 20 seconds – and claimed easy victories to win his third successive gold at the games, a love affair that began at the 2010 Delhi edition.
He had won gold in the now disbanded 66-kg category at the 2010 edition in New Delhi before winning the 74-kg title at the 2014 CWG in Glasgow, Scotland.
This medal belongs to the whole team. I didn’t win the medal alone. I can’t say the medal is mine alone. I’m happy I got to represent the country once again and win a medal.Sushil Kumar, gold medalist
Apart from Kumar, event debutant Rahul Aware (57-kg) bagged gold as India snared an impressive four medals on the opening day of the CWG wrestling competition in Gold Coast.
Sushil took very little time to defeat Johannes Botha of South Africa on technical superiority. The South African came into the bout struggling with a leg injury and that just about ended any chance of him getting an upset win over the former world champion Indian.
Prior to the final, Sushil scored easy technical superiority victories over Canada's Jevon Balfour and Pakistan's Muhammad Asad Butt, before scoring a victory by fall over Australia's Connor Evans.
I want to thank my mother, my father, my friends, and coaches for training me.Sushil Kumar
However, another defending champion, Babita Phogat (53-kg) settled for a silver, while debutant Kiran happily flaunted a hard-earned bronze.
Kiran defeated Mauritian Katouskia Pariadhaven by fall in the repechage of the 76-kg category for her first major medal at the international level.
(With inputs from PTI and IANS)
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