Akshay, Vicky strike gold in freestyle; Women eye medal rush

DA NANG (VIETNAM), May 25: India continued their impressive run at the U-23 Wrestling Asian Championships with freestyle grapplers Akshay T Dhere and Vicky claiming stunning gold medals here on Monday. Akshay set the tone in the 57kg weight class by edging past Kazakhstan’s Yela-man Amangeldi with a gritty 4-2 victory to claim the title. Vicky soon doubled the joy for the Indian camp in the 97kg division, pulling off a thrilling 7-5 win against Uzbekistan’s Sherzod Poyonov to secure the top spot on the podium. In the 53kg final, Muskan beat Vietnam’s Thi My Linh Nguyen, registering a comfortable 6-2 win to clinch the title. Tapsya was even more dominant in the 57kg category, securing her gold medal with a victory by fall over Kazakhstan’s Altyn Shagayeva while leading 4-0. Bhagyashree H. Fand added another gold to India’s tally in the 62kg division, blanking Kyrgyzstan’s Tynys Dubek 4-0 in her title clash, while Pulkit (65kg) continued the gold rush with 4-0 and 4-1 wins over Kyrgyzstan’s Tynys Dubek and Mongolia’s Narkhajid Nyamsuren respectively. Amruta Shashikant Pujari took home the silver in the 72kg division after a 2-4 l to Mongolia’s Odgerel Edene Ochir. (PTI)