Indian wrestling stars receive warm welcome after successful CWG 2022 campaign
Aug 09, 2022
New Delhi [India], August 9 : Indian wrestlers Bajrang Punia, Deepak Punia and Mohit Grewal received a warm welcome at home after a successful Commonwealth Games 2022 campaign in Birmingham.
India finished 4th in the medal tally with 22 Gold, 16 Silver and 23 Bronze medals and with a total of 61 medals at the Commonwealth Games.
Bajrang Punia thanked everyone for showing love and support.
"I will be preparing for World Championships," he added.
Star Indian wrestler Bajrang Punia clinched Gold Medal for India after winning the final against Canada's Lachlan Mcneil in men's 65 kg. The Indian won the match 9-2.
Mohit Grewal was also happy with the reception from the fans.
"I fell short this time. I will work on my mistakes and try winning gold next time," he added.
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Indian grappler Mohit Grewal clinched the bronze medal in the Men's Freestyle 125kg after defeating Aaron Johnson at the Coventry Arena Wrestling Mat B on Friday.
Grewal defeated Johnson 5-0 in the bronze medal match. Grewal bagged the medal in only three minutes and 30 seconds.
Deepak Punia said that he will start preparing for Asian Games and World Championships.
"My main focus is the 2024 Olympics," he added.
Deepak Punia won the gold medal in the Men's Freestyle 86kg category by defeating Pakistan's Muhammad Inam at the Coventry Arena Wrestling Mat B on Friday. Punia won the gold medal match 3-0.
India has delivered its fifth-best performance of all time in their Commonwealth Games history, with their best being a total of 101 medals when the games were held at home in 2010.
However, achieving 61 medals this time around holds a lot of significance since the shooting, which is India's most successful discipline historically with 135 medals, was not included in the games this time. The numbers could have been way higher had it been included.
The country's contingent won 12 medals in wrestling, its most successful sport in the 2022 edition of the multi-sport event. India captured medals in every category in which its stars wrestled. This includes six gold medals as well by Bajrang Punia, Ravi Dahiya, Deepak Punia, Sakshi Malik, Vinesh Phogat and Naveen. Anshu Malik won the sole silver medal. Wrestlers Divya Kakran, Mohit Grewal, Pooja Gehlot, Pooja Sihag and Deepak Nehra took home bronze.