Ace wrestler Navjot Kaur scripted history by becoming the first Indian woman wrestler to win a gold in the Senior Asian Championships as she clinched the yellow metal in the 65kg freestyle category in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan.
Navjot outclassed Japan's Miya Imai 9-1 in a one-sided final bout of the women's 65kg freestyle category to bag the gold. This was also India's first gold in the ongoing championships. Earlier in the day, India got another medal through Rio Olympics bronze medallist Sakshi Malik who won the bronze in the 62kg freestyle category after getting better of Kazakhstan's Ayaulym Kassymova 10-7 in a tough fight.
Navjot, who reached the finals after defeating Mongolia's Tsevegmed Enkhbayar 2-1 in the semis, clinched a two-point lead inside two minutes but it got reverted after Japan challenged the referee's decision. But Navjot fought back to take 2-0 lead and went into the break with a convincing 5-0 lead.
Navjot didn't give Miya a single chance to stage a comeback into the match but the Japanese won a single point to trail 1-5. Navjot quickly claimed two more points taking her lead to 7-1 before sealing the title 9-1 in her favour.
Vinesh Phogat settles for silver
Vinesh Phogat had to settle for silver as she lost the tough-fought title clash. She lost to Chinese wrestler Chun Lei by a narrow margin of 3-2 in the final of the 50kg category (freestyle). Vinesh had defeated Korean, Kazak, and Japanese wrestlers on her journey to win silver. Meanwhile, another female wrestler Sangeeta secured a bronze medal in 59kg weight category after losing to Um Jieun of Korea Republic 9-4. This takes India's medal tally to four in the tournament after Greco-Roman wrestlers Harpreet Singh and Rajender Kumar clinched bronze earlier.
This is also Phogat's second consecutive silver of the event, following her last year's podium finish at home on her comeback from a major knee injury.
