U-20 Worlds: Grappler Kajal in line for gold

Samokov: Young Indian wrestler Kajal produced two high-scoring wins to storm into the women’s 72kg final while Reena (55kg) and Priya (76kg) settled for silver medals at the U20 World Wrestling Championships here Thursday.

Kajal, the 2024 Cadet world champion and reigning U20 Asian champion, logged double-digit points twice in her three bouts.

She outwitted Emili Mihaylova Apostolova for a massive 15-4 win by technical superiority and put up another impressive show by winning her quarterfinal 7-0 against Kyrgyzstan’s Kaiyrkul Sharshebaeva.

Up against American wrestler Jasmine Dolores Robinson, the Indian kept her high-scoring moves to come out a 13-6 winner. She will now clash with China’s Yuqi Liu.

Reena (55kg) and Priya (76kg) had reached the women’s final on Wednesday but could not secure top-of-the-podium finishes, losing their gold medal bouts. Priya lost her title-match 0-4 to Ukraine’s Nadiia Sokolovska while Reena was outplayed 2-10 by American Everest Shea Leydecker.

Two more of India’s wrestlers are in medal hunt with Shruti Saarika to fight for bronze on Friday.