Babita stunned as National wrestling c’ship concludes

Commonwealth Games gold medallist Babita Kumari on Thursday faced a shock defeat to settle for a bronze medal even as another emerging Phogat sister, Priyanka, bagged the gold in women’s 55kg freestyle on the final day of the Senior National Wrestling championship here.

Meanwhile, hosts Railway Sports Promotion Board (RSPB) finished on top of the podium in Men’s Freestyle, while Haryana emerged triumphant in women’s freestyle on the final day of competition. In Greco-Roman, SSCB were the winners.

Babita was stunned by her younger opponents, including cousin Priyanka. The bronze medallist of 2012 World Wrestling championship had to be satisfied with a bronze-medal finish, along with Sakshi in women’s 55kg.

Priyanka Phogat went on to clinch the yellow metal in the same category after beating Archana Tomar in the final bout.

Meanwhile, in women’s 75kg, Kiran won the gold, while Nikki took silver. Pooja and Jyoti settled for bronze.

In Men’s 86kg, Somveer defeated Gopal Yadav to walk away with the gold. Naresh and Pawan managed to end with a bronze medal each.

In the super heavy weight category, Sumeet got the better of Mandeep to win the gold in the final bout of 125kg, while Gurusai and Krishan Kumar were the two bronze medal claimants. Last night, Satyvrat Kadian stunned the more fancied Mausam Khatri in Men’s 97kg to take the gold medal. Sunil Kumar and Rabalijit Singh had to be happy with the bronze.