Indian wrestler Vinesh Phogat wins women's 53kg gold medal at CWG
Birmingham, Aug 6: Putting aside the mental and physical struggles that pegged her back, an intimidating Vinesh Phogat pounced on her rivals to complete a hat-trick of CWG gold medals while Ravi Dahiya too went unchallenged in his gold-winning show, here on Saturday.
Vinesh became the first Indian woman wrestler to win three consecutive Commonwealth Games gold medal.
In what was expected to be a tough opener against world championship bronze medallist Samantha Leigh Stewart, Vinesh reduced it to a no contest and finished it in mere 36 seconds.
Vinesh had the Canadian in a head lock from where she pushed her on the mat and in no time pinned her rival.
Even before people could warm up to the contest, it was all over.
Next up for the 27-year-old Vinesh was Nigeria's Mercy Bolafunoluwa Adekuoroye, who tried to resist a bit but soon the Indian had her in an iron grip. Vinesh kept her in that position for more than a minute in a magnificent show of power, winning 6-0.
With only four wrestlers in the women's 53kg draw, Vinesh now needed to beat Sri Lanka's Chamodya Keshani Maduravlage Don and she did it in style, winning 'by fall' to clinch her third successive gold.
Vinesh has been struggling for form and fitness ever since her defeat at the Tokyo Games, where she made a shock first-round exit after entering the field as the hot favourite for the gold medal.
Tokyo Games silver medallist Ravi was also too good for the 57kg field. He won both his bouts -- against Suraj Singh of New Zealand and Pakistan's Asad Ali -- by technical superiority en route the final.
In the final, Nigeria's Ebikewenimo Welson showed the intent to fight but the level at which Ravi wrestles, it was a tough task.
Ravi foiled a right leg attack and on next try of the Nigerian, he scored on counter-attack, effecting a take-down move with ease.
Soon he had trapped Welson in leg-lace and rolled him thrice for a 8-0 lead. Ravi completed the formality with another take-down.
Also fighting for gold is Naveen (74kg), who began with TSU wins over Nigeria's Ogbonna Emmanuel John, Singapore's Hong Yeow Lou and England's Charlie James Bowling.
He will next fight it out with Pakistan's Tahir Muhammad Sharif.
In women's 50kg, Pooja Gehlot made a confident start with a TSU win over Scotland's Christelle Lemofack Letchidjio and then got a walk over from Cameron's Rebecca Ndolo Muambo to make the semifinal stage with ease.
However, she lost the last-four clash 6-9 to Canada's Madison Bianca Parks and will now fight for bronze against the Scottish player. Since only six wrestlers featured in this category, it was competed in Nordic style where all wrestlers, divided into two groups, competed once against each other.
Pooja Sihag (76kg) is also in contention to win bronze. She is set to clash with Australia's Naomi de Bruine.
In men's freestyle 97kg, Deepak Nehra will fight for bronze. He will clash with Pakistan's Tayab Raza.
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Kolkata Port: Decline in number of voters during SIR brings in uncertainty in TMC bastion
Kolkata (PTI): A sharp decline in the number of voters following the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls has injected an element of uncertainty into the Kolkata Port Assembly constituency, considered a safe seat for the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC).
The electorate in the south Kolkata constituency has dropped from 2.36 lakh in the 2021 Assembly polls to around 1.75 lakh, a fall of nearly 26 per cent, prompting political parties to closely assess its potential impact on the April 29 polling.
The TMC re-nominated senior minister and Kolkata Mayor Firhad Hakim, who has held the seat for two consecutive terms, while the BJP fielded Rakesh Singh. The Congress nominated Aquib Gulzar, and the CPI(M) put up Faiyaz Ahmad Khan, making it a four-cornered contest.
Kolkata Port, part of the Kolkata Dakshin parliamentary constituency, comprises dock areas, old business districts and densely populated neighbourhoods. Muslim voters form a significant segment of the electorate, alongside traders, transport workers and working-class Hindu families.
The reduction in voter numbers has prompted party workers across formations to scrutinise the revised rolls booth-wise to identify deletions and assess whether specific localities have been affected.
Singh’s candidature has added a twist to the contest. He had earlier contested against Hakim as a Congress candidate but is now in the fray on a BJP ticket.
Hakim won the seat in 2016 by 26,548 votes, defeating Singh, and increased his margin significantly to 68,554 votes in 2021, polling over one lakh votes.
While the TMC has expressed confidence in retaining the seat, opposition parties have raised concerns over the voter list revision, alleging that names of genuine voters have been removed.
“People here know who has stood by them. Elections are decided by trust,” Hakim told PTI during a campaign event.
Singh claimed several residents had complained about missing names in the rolls, stressing the need for transparency. The CPI(M) nominee also said voters in several areas had raised similar concerns.
The constituency has remained a difficult terrain for the opposition in recent elections.
Civic issues such as sanitation, traffic congestion and declining business activity in traditional markets also feature in the campaign in the constituency, though the revised voter list has emerged as a key talking point.
Polling in the constituency will be held in the second phase on April 29, with counting scheduled for May 4.
