National Wrestling C’Ships: Manjeet wins maiden gold in Greco-Roman; Gyanender beats Vikram

Manjeet, from Jhajjar in Haryana, secured a 5-0 lead in the first period of the final and employed his strong defensive skills to maintain his lead and secure a dream outing.

Services’ Manjeet (in blue ) grabs L. Sayon of Manipur to win the 55kg GR gold medal match during the National wrestling championships at Port Stadium. | Photo Credit: DEEPAK KR / THE HINDU

It was a better-late-than-never moment for 30-year-old Manjeet, who overcame a stiff challenge from fellow Army-man L. Sayon, representing Manipur, to win his maiden title in 55kg Greco Roman category in the National wrestling championships at the Rajiv Gandhi Indoor Stadium here on Thursday.

Manjeet, from Jhajjar in Haryana, secured a 5-0 lead in the first period of the final and employed his strong defensive skills to maintain his lead and secure a dream outing.

“Injuries affected my career. I had a few National medals before, but this is my first gold,” said a proud Manjeet.

Gyanender Gyani, a 2019 Asian bronze medallist, rallied to beat Vikram 3-1 and retain the 60kg title.

“I have won several medals but I am struggling due to the lack of sponsorship despite being in an Olympic weight,” said Gyanender.

The medalists:

Greco Roman: 55kg: 1. Manjeet (SSCB), 2. L. Sayon (Man), 3. Rohit Yadav (RSPB) and Rupin (Har); 60kg: 1. Gyanender Gyani (SSCB), 2. Vikram (Mah), 3. Saurabh (UP) and Sumit (Chd); 63kg: 1. Sagar (SSCB), 2. Nitin (RSPB), 3. Sandeep (Har) and Umesh (Del); 67kg: 1. Karanjit (Pun), 2. Sandeep (Kar), 3. Deepak (Del) and Vinayak (Mah); 72: 1. Ankit Gulia (SSCB), 2. Anuj (Del), 3. Vikas (RSPB) and Sameer (Mah); 77kg: 1. Sajan Bhanwala, 2. Deepak (SSCB), 3. Chhagan Meena (Raj) and Karan (Del); 82kg: 1. Rohit Dahiya (RSPB), 2. Sandeep (SSCB), 3. Rahul (Raj) and Neeraj (Del); 87kg: 1. Sunil Kumar (RSPB), 2. Sushant (SSCB), 3. Dhareppa (Kar) and Sunny (Del); 97kg: 1. Ravi (RSPB), 2. Narender Cheema (Pun), 3. Shailesh (Mah) and Sonu (SSCB); 130kg: 1. Naveen (SSCB), 2. Parvesh (Har), 3. Tushar (Mah) and Sahil (Chd)

Women: 50kg: 1. Shivanee Pawar (MP), 2. Nirmala Devi (Har), 3. Neha (Mah) and Neelam (UP); 55kg: 1. Anuj (RSPB), 2. Aarati (Har), 3. Manshi Yadav (UP) and Manpreet Kaur (Pun).