Bhanwala becomes first Indian to win medal at U23 Worlds, takes bronze
Pontevedra (Spain) (PTI): Sajan Bhanwala became the first Indian Greco Roman wrestler to win a medal at the Under-23 World Championship when he edged past Ukraine's Dmytro Vasetskyi on 'criteria' to emerge winner in the bronze play-off, here.
It was the Ukrainian who pulled off a four-pointer on the edge of the circle for a solid start but Bhanwala bounced back immediately with a strong move that got him into a position from where he could pin his rival.
Though he could not pin his rival, it was good enough to earn four points.Bhanwala lost two more points and got into defensive mode.
For staying passive, Bhanwala put on 'Par Terre' position, something Indian wrestlers are very poor at defending and the Ukrainian pulled off another four-pointer from the ground position for a handsome 10-4 lead.
Bhanwala scored two points with a take-down move and with 35 seconds left in the bout, managed to push his rival on the back to level the scores. The bout ended at 10-10 but since the Indian had scored the last point he was declared winner on criteria.
Bhanwala had begun with a 3-0 win over Lithuania's Aistis Liaugminas but lost his pre-quarterfinal bout to Moldova's Alexandrin Gutu. As Gutu made the final, Bhanwala bounced back into medal contention via the repechage route and he made full use of that with a 9-6 win over Kazakhstan's Rassul Zhunis.
Meanwhile, Vikas will fight for a bronze in the 72kg after losing his semifinal by technical superiority to Croatia's Pavel Puklavec. He will be up against the winner of repechage contest between Georgios Theodoros Sotiriadis and Jpana's Daigo Kobayashi.
Before losing his semifinal clash, Vikas beat Kyrgyzstan's Adilkhan Nurlanbekov and home team rival Marcos Sanchez Silva Mejias by technical superiority, losing just one point across bouts.
In the 60kg category, Sumit got back to medal reckoning when he made the repechage round. He will be up agianst Kazakhastan's Olzhas Sultan.
In the 67kg competition, Ashu had bowed out after losing his qualfication bout by technical superiority to Georgia's Diego Chkhikvadze.
Six Greco Roman wrestlers travelled to the Spanish city for the championship along with two women and one free style wrestler while visas of 21 other Indians were rejected by the Embassy of Spain.
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Kerala CM slams Karnataka demolitions, calls it 'bulldozer justice'
Thiruvananthapuram (PTI): Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Friday strongly criticised the reported demolition of Muslim residential areas in Karnataka's capital, calling the action shocking and painful.
In a Facebook post, Vijayan referred to the reported bulldozing of Fakir Colony and Waseem Layout, where Muslim families had been living for many years.
He said the incident reflected a form of minority-targeting politics seen earlier in North India and warned that such practices were now spreading to the South.
The chief minister alleged that entire families were forced out of their homes in harsh winter conditions and pushed onto the streets, leaving them with no choice but to flee.
Vijayan expressed surprise that what he described as "bulldozer justice" was carried out under a Congress-led government in Karnataka.
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He questioned how such forced evictions could be justified by a party that claims to stand for social justice.
He added that governments should take responsibility for protecting the poor, ensuring housing, and preventing people from being driven out of their homes through the use of force.
According to media reports, a demolition drive in Kogilu village at Yelahanka last week pulled down more than 200 houses in Waseem Layout and Fakir Colony.
The operation was reportedly carried out by Bengaluru Solid Waste Management Limited. Reports said the houses were removed to clear what were described as encroachments on land marked for a proposed waste processing unit.
