Asian Wrestling C'ship: Maiden gold medals for seasoned Vinesh Phogat and teen sensation Anshu Malik
Almaty, Apr 16: Dominating the proceedings in a depleted field, Olympic-bound wrestlers Vinesh Phogat and Anshu Malik won their maiden Asian Championship titles after comfortable triumphs in their respective summit clashes here on Friday.
There was no stopping Vinesh in the absence of the Chinese and Japanese rivals as she cruised to the title without losing a point in the 53kg category.
Vinesh has notched up seven podium finishes at the Asian meet over the years, including three silver medals before this edition.
Also standing on top of the podium was Divya Kakran (72kg) while Sakshi Malik (65kg) settled for a silver medal, a performance which should boost her confidence after enduring a long wretched run.
India has a rich haul of seven medals from the women's event as the country won four gold, a silver and two bronze medals in this edition.
Sarita Mor (59kg) had won gold while Seema Bisla (50kg) and Pooja (76kg) settled for bronze medals on Thursday.
Young Sonam Malik (62kg) unfortunately could not compete due to an injury. She also bagged Olympic quota along with Anshu recently.
The 19-year old Anshu was yet again impressive as she underlined her progress in the senior circuit with yet another confident performance in 57kg.
She won her final 3-0 and was never really troubled by Mongolia's Battsetseg Altantsetseg, except for a double-leg attack initially in the bout.
The Mongolian was mostly busy defending and Anshu kept her lead intact for gold.
Earlier in the day, Vinesh won by technical superiority against Mongolia's Otgonjargal Ganbaatar and Taipei's Meng Hsuan Hsieh while an injured Hyunyoung Oh from Korea did not turn up for the semifinal.
Vinesh, who had won a bronze in the Delhi edition of the Continental championship last year, moved 6-0 up in the final and finished the bout in style by pinning her rival in the first period itself.
Anshu won her first two bouts by technical superiority against Uzbekistan's Sevara Eshmuratova and Kyrgyzstan's Nazira Marsbek Kyzy to reach the semifinal.
Her quick moves and tremendous energy had her rivals gasping for breath.
Up against Altantsetseg, she was leading 9-1 when the referee awarded a 'victory by caution' to the Indian. The Mongolian was cautioned thrice.
Competing much better than she was in the recent trials and competitions, the Rio Games bronze medallist Sakshi won her first two bouts by technical superiority and was leading 3-0 against Hanbit Lee when the Korean suffered a knee injury and opted out of the contest.
She began aggressively in the final against Mongolia's Bolortungalag Zorigt but was pinned on a counter move.
Also doing well was Divya, who competed in the 72kg category. She stunned reigning Asian Champion Zhamila Bakbergenova from Kazakhstan 8-5 en route the final.
She won the final by pinning Korea's Sujin Park to be only the second Indian after Sarita Mor to win two gold medals at this meet. She had won gold in 68kg in the 2020 edition.
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Stilfontein (AP): Months after South African authorities initially cut off supplies to miners working illegally in an abandoned gold mine, rescuers brought dozens of bodies and emaciated survivors to the surface on Tuesday with hundreds more still believed to be underground, many of them dead and others too weak to come out on their own.
At least 60 bodies and 92 survivors had been pulled from one of South Africa's deepest mines since Monday in a red cage-like device lowered thousands of feet underground, police said. Police are uncertain how many miners remain inside but said it is likely in the hundreds. Another nine bodies were brought out on Friday in a community-led rescue effort, according to a group representing the miners.
The mine has been the scene of a tense standoff between police, miners and members of the local community since authorities launched an operation in November to force the miners out by cutting off food and water from the surface for a period of time. At the time, a Cabinet minister said the aim was to "smoke them out" and the government would not send help because they were "criminals".
But that tactic has been fiercely criticised by civic groups and the community, and the South African government is under scrutiny for the way it has dealt with the issue at the Buffelsfontein Gold Mine, where more than 100 miners are believed to have died underground of starvation or dehydration, according to the group representing them.
Authorities, who removed the ropes and pulley system miners used to enter and to lower supplies, say the survivors are able to come out but refuse to because of fear of arrest. That has been disputed by the civic groups, which won a court case to force authorities to allow food, water and medicine to be sent down to the miners. But they say the supplies aren't enough and many of the miners are dying of starvation and unable to climb out because the shaft is too steep.
Residents desperately waiting for news of family members gathered at the mine Tuesday near the town of Stilfontein, southwest of Johannesburg, some holding placards criticising authorities for their response.
The community organised its own rescue operation on Friday before the official effort by authorities began on Monday. They say a proper rescue operation should have been launched months ago.
"We are happy that this operation is happening, even though we believe that if it was done earlier, we wouldn't even have one dead person," said Mzukisi Jam, the regional chairperson of the South African National Civics Organization, an umbrella for civic and rights groups.
Illegal mining is common in parts of gold-rich South Africa where companies close down mines that are no longer profitable, leaving groups of informal miners to enter them illegally in a search for leftover deposits.
Large groups of miners often go underground for months to maximise their profits, taking food, water, generators and other equipment with them, but also relying on others in their group on the surface to send down more supplies.
Mineral Resources Minister Gwede Mantashe visited the site on Tuesday and said that more than 1,500 miners who resurfaced from the Buffelsfontein mine have been arrested since authorities began a larger crackdown on illegal mining in late 2023. He said the vast majority were foreign nationals from neighbouring countries.
Police have also doubled down on their assertion that the miners who are still underground aren't coming out because they are afraid of being arrested.
Activists said the only way out is for miners to make a dangerous trek to another shaft, which can take days, and crawl out there, but many are too weak or ill to climb out. The mine is 2.5 kilometres deep with multiple shafts, many levels and a maze of tunnels. The group representing the miners said there are numerous groups in various parts of the mine.
"The last time I spoke to my brother was in July, when he told us that he is going underground," said Zinzi Tom, a sister of one of the miners who remained underground. "We had not heard anything from him, but yesterday one of the miners who surfaced said he saw him about two weeks ago. Apparently he is very sick and he is struggling to survive."
The Mining Affected Communities United in Action group, which took authorities to court in December to force them to allow supplies to be sent down to the miners, released two mobile phone videos that they said were from underground and showed dozens of dead bodies of miners wrapped in plastic. A spokesman for the group said "a minimum" of 100 miners had died.
The videos purportedly from the depths of the mine are filmed by a man who can be heard saying, "This is hunger. People are dying because of hunger," as he records emaciated-looking men sitting on the damp floor of the mine. He adds, "Please help us. Bring us food or take us out."
The rescue operation will go on for 10 days and authorities would then reassess, Police Minister Senzo Mchunu said. Police also said that the survivors who had been brought to the surface will be arrested and charged with illegal mining and trespassing after receiving medical attention.
Authorities made clear their approach when South African Cabinet Minister Khumbudzo Ntshavheni told reporters in November that the government would not help the miners, who they consider criminals.
