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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Congress to challenge Waqf bill's constitutionality in Supreme Court 'very soon'
New Delhi (PTI): The Congress on Friday said it will "very soon" challenge in the Supreme Court the constitutionality of the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2025 that has been passed in Parliament.
The opposition party also said it will continue to resist all "assaults" of the Modi government on the principles, provisions, and practices that are contained in the Constitution.
Parliament early Friday approved the Bill after the Rajya Sabha gave its nod to the contentious legislation following an over 13-hour debate.
In a post in Hindi on X, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said, "The atmosphere in the country regarding the Waqf Board Amendment Bill is such that it feels like this bill has been brought to harass minorities. Late at night in the Lok Sabha, when this bill was passed, it received 288 votes in favour and 232 votes against. Why did this happen? This means there are many flaws in the bill."
From this, one can guess that despite opposition from various parties, this bill was brought arbitrarily, he said.
"This 'might is right' -- won’t be good for anyone!" Kharge said.
In a post on X, AICC general secretary in-charge organisation Jairam Ramesh said, "The INC will very soon be challenging in the Supreme Court the constitutionality of the Wakf (Amendment) Bill."
"We are confident and will continue to resist all assaults of the Modi Govt on the principles, provisions, and practices that are contained in the Constitution of India," he said.
The discussion on the Waqf Bill in the Rajya Sabha witnessed staunch objections from opposition parties, which termed the Bill "anti-Muslim" and "unconstitutional" with the government responding that the "historic reform" would benefit the minority community.
The Bill was passed in the Rajya Sabha with 128 members voting in favour and 95 opposing it. It was passed in the Lok Sabha early Thursday, with 288 members supporting it and 232 against it.
Ramesh also said that the INC's challenge of the CAA, 2019 is being heard in the Supreme Court.
The INC's challenge of the 2019 amendments to the RTI Act, 2005 is being heard in the Supreme Court, he noted.
"The INC's challenge to the validity of the amendments to the Conduct of Election Rules (2024) is being heard in the Supreme Court.
"The INC's intervention to uphold the letter and spirit of the Places of Worship Act, 1991 is being heard in the Supreme Court," the Congress leader added.
The Waqf Bill was passed in the Rajya Sabha with 128 members voting in favour and 95 opposing it. It was passed in the Lok Sabha early Thursday, with 288 members supporting it and 232 against it.
Parliament also approved the Mussalman Wakf (Repeal) Bill, 2025, with the Rajya Sabha giving its nod. The Lok Sabha had already given its assent to the Bill.
