Double Olympic-medallist Sushil Kumar (74kg) and Rahul Aware claimed contrasting gold medals even as defending champion Babita phogat (53kg) settled for a silver on the opening day of the 21st Commonwealth Games' wrestling competition in Gold Coast, Australia, on Thursday.
Sushil took a minute and 20 seconds to defeat Johannes Botha of South Africa on technical superiority to claim his third successive gold medal at the Games.
Aware, on the other hand, prevailed 15-7 over Canada's Steven Takahashi in an exciting contest during which the Indian was troubled by a groin niggle but chose to carry on with more than a minute left on the clock. Aware's triumph opened India's gold medal account in the three-day wrestling competition at the Games.
However, Babita settled for silver after being outmanoeuvred by Canada's Diana Weicker in the summit clash. Babita, who claimed a silver in the 2010 edition before a gold in Glasgow, failed to break through her rival's defences, going down 2-5 in the contest.
Twitter was full of praise for India's medal winners on Thursday.
Here are some tweets
While Babita's bout lacked spark, Aware's showdown with Takahashi was thoroughly engaging. The Indian trailed 6-7 at one stage but claimed points on takedown to recover and keep himself ahead.
(Inputs from PTI)
