Vinesh Phogat , Sakshi Mallik win gold at the Senior Wrestling Championships

Anita defeated Divya Kakran
Anita defeated Divya Kakran

Day two of the Tata Motors Senior Wrestling National Championships witnessed a major upset as 35-year-old and a mother of one, Haryana’s Anita Sheoran defeated Commonwealth Games bronze medallist Divya Kakran of Railways in the 68kg final in Jalandhar on Saturday.

The 35-year-old Haryana grappler, who won 65kg gold medal last year, is on a comeback mode. Anita, who has 2-year-old kid, surprised everyone with her gold-winning performance during a final bout against Kakran.

Joining Anita was another mother Punjab’s Gursharan Kaur, who was making a comeback after six years. A mother of one, Gursharan didn’t disappoint home crowd as she defeated Pooja of Haryana 4-2 in the 76 Kg category to win the gold medal.

Representing Railways, seasoned wrestlers Vinesh Phogat and Sakshi Malik registered convincing wins in their respective final bouts.

While Vinesh beat 20-year-old Haryana’s Anju 7-3 in the 55kg category to clinch her second consecutive gold at Nationals, Olympic bronze medallist Sakshi overcame some gutsy moves by her opponent Radhika of Haryana and registered 4-2 win in the final of the 62kg category.

In the bronze medal match, Maharashtra's Reshma Mane defeated Freedom Yadav of Uttar Pradesh. Kolhapur wrestler Reshma, who lost to Radhika in the first round, was qualified for bronze medal bout after receiving bye in the repechage round.

Chandigarh wrestler Neetu though had to settle for silver after losing to seasoned campaigner Sarita Mor in the 57kg category. In the 65kg final, Haryana’s Nisha defeated Navjot of Railways with a margin of 4-1 as she pulled off a confident victory by fall and denied the Railways’ grappler more than a point in the final showdown.

Haryana’s women wrestlers dominated the medals tally with a total of 215 points.

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Edited by Prasen Moudgal