In what was a stunning display of dominance, four Indian women wrestlers – Aditi Kumari, Neha, Pulkit, and Mansi Lather – all bagged gold medals in their respective weight categories at the U17 World Wrestling Championships in Amman, Jordan on Thursday.
The gold medal rush for India started with Kumari blanking Maria Louiza Gkika of Greece 7-0 in the 43kg weight division final.
Neha followed it up with a 10-0 win by technical superiority over Japan’s So Tsuitsui in 57kg final before Pulkit got the better of Daria Frolova, who was competing as a neutral athlete, 6-3 in the 65kg final.
Later in the day, Lather emerged victorious in 73kg final as she pinned Hanna Pirskaya – another neutral grappler – to cap off a highly successful day for India.
The win in the final against Pirskaya marked a third victory by fall for Lather in four bouts at the U17 World Championships. The only opponent she failed to pin down was United States’ Piper Meredith Fowler in the quarter-finals.
Pulkit, meanwhile, was one of the only two wrestlers to start their campaign from the qualification round in the women’s 65kg event.
As for Neha, in 57kg, the only bout she dropped points in was the semi-final against Kazakhstan’s Anna Stratan.
These four gold medals for India come just a day after Greco Roman wrestlers Sainath Pardhi (51kg) and Ronak Dahiya (110kg) won a bronze medal each.
Moreover, Kajal (women’s 69kg) and Shrutika Patil (women’s 46kg) will both battle for gold medals on Friday.
