India concludes with 13 gold at U-15 Asia Wrestling Championships

The Indian contingent had a competition to remember as they finished atop the team rankings for the first time in the Under-15 Wrestling Asian Championships held in Taichung, China from November 22 to 24. Winning the maximum number of gold medals in the three-day event (13), the Indians ended with 225 points in the boy's team rankings and got 212 points in the girl's team rankings. With a total of 13 gold medals in their kitty, India capped off a sensational campaign with a total of 28 medals.

Day 1: India begin the C'ships with a bang

The Indian wrestlers began the event on a high, bagging as many as eight medals, including two gold on the first day. All three Indian wrestlers in the fray in the freestyle category won medals, with Ravi Kumar defeating Daito Katsume of Japan 4-2 in the 44 kg category to claim the first gold for the country. Haryana's Aman and Yogesh Bijore of Madhya Pradesh bagged two silver medals each as they went down fighting in the summit clash of the 41kg and 38kg weight category competition respectively.

In the women's freestyle event, India's Deepika Nain bagged gold in the 62kg category, while Aarti Saroha (54kg) and Nitika (58kg) returned with silver.

'Dhakad' girls lead the way on Day 2

Day 2 saw yet another golden shower for the Indians as they finished with six medals, three out of which were bagged by the girls. The troika of Saloni (33kg), Babli (36kg) and Komal, competing in the 39kg, put up a dominating display in their respective categories to bag top honours in the freestyle event.

Two golds also came from the Greco-roman wrestlers, long considered as India's weakest category. All four wrestlers in the tourney on Day 2 won medals, with Ankit Gulia defeating Korganon of Kazakhstan to won gold in the 68kg category. It was closely followed by yet another gold from Chirag Dhalia in the 75kg competition. Sumit and Arshdeep rounded up the Greco-roman challenge by bagging two silver medals in the 62kg and 85kg events respectively.

The day had another gold in store, as Akash performed brilliantly to get the better of Japan's Daiki Ogawa in the 48kg freestyle event. His quick reflexes and wrestling style did not allow his rival a chance, as the Indian won 8-3. Later, Udit won silver for India in the 57kg competition while Kapil won a bronze in the 52kg category of the freestyle event.

The power show continues on Day 3

Another five gold medals along with five silver came India's way on the last day of the competition, with the Indian boys starring in the freestyle categories. Vishal (62kg), Sagar Jaglan (68kg), Deepak Chanal (75kg) and Jatin (85kg) won their respective bouts to ensure that all ten wrestlers, who participated in the freestyle category for India, finished on the podium.

The Greco-roman side were the surprise performers of the championships as they bagged three more medals on the final day, including gold to cap off a successful campaign. After Harsh won gold in the 44kg, the trio of Komal (42kg), Sheetal (46kg) and Dhanshri Fand (50kg) were unable to win the yellow metal and returned with three silver medals. This was the only reason why the girls team finished second overall with 212 points, behind Japan who bagged 225 points.