Bajrang Punia takes gold and number one rank in Rome, bronze for Kaliramana
Rome: Tokyo-bound Indian wrestler Bajrang Punia pulled off a two-pointer in the last 30 seconds of the gold medal bout to defend his title at the Matteo Pellicone Ranking Series event, a result that pushed him back to world number one rank.
Up against Mongolia's Tulga Tumur Ochir, Bajrang was trailing 0-2 till the final moments of the 65kg final but managed to level the scores, 30 seconds from the whistle.
Since the last scoring point came from the Indian he was declared the winner on criteria on Sunday night.
Bajrang seemed to have improved upon his leg defence in the one-year break, forced by the coronavirus pandemic. Bajrang was placed second in the rankings before the event and is now on top of the ranking table in the 65kg category with 14 points.
The fresh rankings are based on results of this tournament only. So whoever gets on top of the podium will be ranked number one in the world.
Vishal Kaliramana too impressed in the non-Olympic 70kg category by winning a bronze with a 5-1 win over Syrbaz Talgat from Kazakhstan.
Meanwhile, Narsingh Pancham Yadav, who recently made a return to competitive wrestling after a four-year doping ban, lost his bronze play-off 0-5 to Kazakhstan's Daniyar Kaisanov.
He though, impressed with his power and temperament.
India returned with seven medals from the first Ranking Series event in a year with Vinesh Phogat and Sarita Mor winning gold and a silver respectively in the women's event.
Greco Roman wrestlers -- Neeraj (63kg), Kuldeep Malik (72kg), Naveen (130kg) -- bagged three bronze medals.
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Kerala Imam's call to open mosques for Attukal Pongala devotees goes viral
Thiruvananthapuram (PTI): The appeal of Palayam Imam V P Suhaib Maulavi to open mosques and Muslim houses to Hindu devotees on the upcoming Attukal Pongala festival day here has gone viral on social media platforms, with many netizens describing it as the example of the real Kerala story.
Attukal Pongala, which falls on March 3 this year, is considered one of the largest women gatherings in the world, in which lakhs of women, cutting across ages, gather in the capital city to take part in the festivities.
Maulavi, during his Friday sermon, urged the members of the Muslim community to extend hospitality to Hindu devotees arriving in the city for the Pongala festival.
In his address, he said that although Attukal Pongala is associated with a different faith and Muslims do not take part in its rituals and ceremonies, the occasion presents an opportunity to serve as gracious hosts to the thousands of women and children who visit Thiruvananthapuram as guests.
"Like last year, Pongala is being observed during the holy month of Ramadan this time as well. We must share the spirit of joy, fraternity and love that defines Ramadan with our sisters and their children who come here for Pongala," he said.
Maulavi called upon the community to arrange drinking water and Ramadan food items for the devotees and to ensure facilities for their rest.
"Arrangements should be made for their rest. Our mosques and homes should be opened to them. This is an occasion to openly demonstrate our love and brotherhood," he said.
Maulavi further stressed that the growing Islamophobia and hatred in the country and the world can be countered effectively only through love and fraternity.
He described the festival as an ideal opportunity to reinforce the message of harmony.
The Muslim cleric's speech soon went viral on social media platforms.
Cutting across religion, people shared his video clippings on various platforms and hailed his gesture as an example of the real Kerala story, harmony and brotherhood among different religions and communities in Kerala.
His appeal assumed significance in view of the ongoing row over the "Kerala Story 2: Goes Beyond" movie.
