World Professional Champion wrestler Sangram Singh’s much awaited return to the mat lived up to its billing as he overcame America’s Kevin Radford in an exciting but hard-fought battle in front of a packed house here at the Talkatora Stadium on Friday night.
Sangram Sing wins the 1st KD Jadhav Memorial International Kusti Championship beating American Wrestler Kevin Radford here in Delhi in front of a packed house
Sangram Singh had to dig deep into his experience to snatch the championship belt from a valiant Radford in the first KD Jadhav Memorial International Wrestling Championship.
“It was a really tough fight,” Sangram conceded after his victory. “I had to use all my experience to beat this fine wrestler from the US,” he added.
Radford rose to the occasion as he promised, taking the first round with his speed and quicksilver reflexes. It, however, got the best out of Sangram and he fought strongly to come back and take the second round. He also did it emphatically enough to take a three-point lead (12-9) after the first two rounds.
The third-round saw Sangram overpowering his American counterpart 16-11 which reflected his growing dominance in the ring. Redford launched a strong comeback in the next round, narrowing down the margin.
Both the champions fought tooth and nail but, Sangram, egged on by a vociferous home crowd, made the most of his 24-20 lead going into the last round to seal the bout in his favour.
Earlier in the first bout of the night, Shepal Yadav registered an emphatic 15-0 win against his compatriot Sachin Attri as the latter wrestler was ruled with a shoulder injury in the second round of the bout. The second bout of the night was a display of immense agility but unfortunately ended in similar fashion as Sanjay Deswal withdrew in the fourth round with a rib injury and Pratik Bhakt emerged as the winner.
The student Olympic gold medallist Labhanshu Rishikesh took on the diminutive figure of Om Prakash but couldn’t make use of his hefty figure and conceded a lot of points to his agile opponent. Labhanshu was left trailing to Om 13-3 at the end of the third round and couldn’t launch a comeback to eventually lose 18-3.
The fourth round of the night which featured two women Ekta and Akanksha, saw the latter woman wrestler finish it off as quick in the first round itself. The attacking Akanksha had the upper hand from the initial stages of the game and sent her opponent packing with an immaculate move to take the gold medal.
The immense display of talent at the first K.D Jadhav Memorial International Tournament which will surely inspire more aspiring wrestlers in every nook and corner of the country to take it up professionally in the future as promised by the organisers.