India rounded off a successful final day in the inaugural Hari Ram Indian Wrestling Grand Prix with Praveen Rana giving the hosts their second gold after a 5-0 (3-0, 2-0) victory over Lobianidze of Georgia in the men's 66kg final at the Indira Gandhi Indoor stadium on Sunday.
Praveen was competing in the 66 kg category in which Beijing Olympic bronze medallist Sushil Kumar pulled out owing to niggles. But the 19-year-old Delhi boy did not disappoint and pulled off a gutsy performance in the final. Rajneesh (60kg) had given India its first gold on Saturday, a day after Olympic-bound wrestler Narsingh Yadav (74kg) faltered at the last stage to settle for a silver.
India also added three bronze to its tally on the final day. Manoj Kumar along with Iranian Narisi took the bronze in 66kg category while Pawan Kumar clinched third place in the 84 kg category. Jonathan Reader and Korean Kim Gwan won the gold and silver.
In the women’s competition, Gursharan Preet Kaur got India its third bronze medal of the day in the 72kg section. Mongolian Ochirbat won the gold and Kazakhstan's Daviskristie the silver.
India finished at the top of the table with two gold, three silver and five bronze medals. United States took the second spot (1-5-1) while Korea settled for third (1-2-3) place among 13 nations.
Results: Men: Freestyle: 66kg: Praveen Rana (Ind), 1; Lobjanidize (Geo), 2; Manoj Kumar (Ind) and Nasiri (Iri), 3. 84kg: Reader Jonathan (USA), 1; Kim Gwan (Kor), 2; Pawan Kumar and Mohd Hamedipour (Iri), 3;.
Women: 63kg: Haruka Sato (Jpn), 1; Zaitseva (Kaz), 2; Kim Hye Bin (Kor) and Sharkhuu (Mgl), 3. 72kg: Ochirbat (Mgl), 1; Davis Kristie (USA), 2; Gursharan Preet Kaur and Hiroe Suzuki (Jpn), 3.
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