Babita Kumari Phogat Settles for Silver in Women's Freestyle 53 kg Wrestling Event for India at CWG 2018
After Babita’s battle in finals, now all eyes will be on Indian wrestling legend and two-time Olympic medallist Sushil Kumar’s display in the gold medal match of Men's Freestyle 74 kg category.
Wrestler Babita Kumari Phogat added the second medal to India’s medal tally in Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games on Thursday. After shooter Tejaswini Sawant’s silver medal in Women's 50m Rifle Prone finals event, it was Babita Kumari who secured the silver medal in Women's Freestyle 53 kg Nordic wrestling discipline. She lost in the finals to Canadian Diana Weicker who won the gold medal match based on victory by points 5-2 in her favour. With this India’s medal tally now stands at 26 including 12 gold, 6 silver and 8 bronze as they remain third-placed in the CWG 2018 medal table behind Australia and England.
Babita Kumar had a solid run to the finals match beating Bose Samuel of Nigeria, Deepika Dilhani of Sri Lanka and Carissa Holland of Australia before she faced defeat at the hands of Diana. The Canadian wrestler proved to be a tough competition for the 28-year-old Indian who failed to register any technical points in the match. Nevertheless, she clinched the silver medal, the first medal for India in boxing this edition of Commonwealth Games.
President Ram Nath Kovind tweeted his congratulatory message for Babita Phogat writing, "Congratulations to Babita Kumari for winning a SILVER in Women's Freestyle 53Kg Wrestling (Nordic System). India's first wrestling medal at #GC2018 #PresidentKovind."
She had previously won a silver medal in Women's Freestyle 51 kg in Delhi 2010 Commonwealth Games and a gold medal in Women's Freestyle 55 kg in Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games. Gold Coast 2018 CWG medal is her third straight medal in the celebrated multi-sports event. It is indeed a big achievement for both Babita Phogat and India.
After Babita’s battle in finals, now all eyes will be on Indian wrestling legend and two-time Olympic medallist Sushil Kumar’s display in the gold medal match of Men's Freestyle 74 kg category. He will be facing Johannes Botha of South Africa in the final round after beating Muhammad Asad BUTT of Pakistan, Jevon Balfour of Canada and Connor Evans of Australia in previous matches.
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Apr 12, 2018 01:19 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).