Vinesh Phogat wins Gold reclaims top rank, Bajrang Punia in finals of Matteo Pellicone Ranking series

One of India’s Olympics medal hopeful wrestlers, Vinesh Phogat has clinched her second Gold in two weeks as she defeated Canada’s Diana Mary Helen Weicker 4-0 in the 53kg title clash at the Matteo Pellicone Ranking Series.

The win also propelled the 26-year-old wrestler to reclaim her World No.1 rank.Currently, India’s only women wrestler to have booked her ticket to the Tokyo Olympics, Vinesh was dominant against the Canadian in the finals. She scored all her points in the first half and ensured that she held on to her lead in the second.

This is Vinesh’s second gold in two weeks in Kyiv and this will give the wrestler a lot of encouragement and motivation that her hard work paying dividends and her preparation for the Summer Games in Tokyo is also on the right path.

The 26-year-old wrestler entered the event as World No.3 in the 53kg category and after her tremendous performances where she did not even concede a single point Vinesh has been elevated to World No.1. Her Canadian opponent from the finals was ranked 40 before entering the tournament and she shocked everyone with her performance and therefore she is currently just behind Vinesh in 2nd rank.

Just like Vinesh, even Bajrang Punia has also been in great form despite facing some tough opponents on his road to the finals. In the first round, he faced former World cadet Champion from Turkey, SelimKozan. A great show of defence from the Indian star wrestler as he crushed his opponent 7-0 despite him being more attacking.

Next up it was America’s Joseph Christopher Mc Kenna who challenged the 27-year old the most and forced him to be at his best. But Bajrang came out of the challenge with flying colours and won the semifinals 6-3. McKenna kept on attacking Bajrang’s leg and got hold of it thrice but the Indian managed to keep him at bay with some great leg defence moves. While it was a very close affair Bajrang came up with a two-point throw to gain some advantage in points and that was enough for the 27-year-old.

He will now face Mongolia’s Tulga Tumur Ochir who will be high on confidence as he is coming to this match on the back of a 4-0 win at the semifinals against Indian wrestler Rohit, who will now fight for Bronze in the bronze medal match against Hamza Alaca from Turkey.