Mongolia: Indian wrestler Ravi Kumar Dahiya won his third consecutive Asian Championship gold medal with a dominant performance in the 57kg division, defeating Kazakhstan’s Rakhat Kalzhan by technical superiority in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia on Saturday.
The silver medalist from the Tokyo Olympics gave up an early lead in both of his bouts but, as is his habit, came back strong to outsmart his opponents in the men’s freestyle event. After winning silver at the Dan Kolov event in February, it was his second final of the season. Ravi, who is from Sonepat’s Nahri village, once again showed his enormous physical strength and tactical supremacy as he outsmarted Japan’s Rikuto Arai (VSU) and defeated Mongolia’s Zanabazar Zandanbud 12-5 in the final.
No Indian had three 🥇 at Asian Championships until Tokyo silver medalist Ravi KUMAR 🇮🇳 did it by winning his third consecutive 🥇 in dominating fashion at 57kg.
'20 New Delhi – 🥇
'21 Almaty – 🥇
'22 Ulaanbaatar – 🥇#WrestleUlaanbaatar pic.twitter.com/7JazvXq6mJ— United World Wrestling (@wrestling) April 23, 2022
In the title fight, Kalzhan took the initiative with a take-down and held the Indian at bay for a long time. Ravi, however, began to dominate the fight with his unequaled class, as is his style. He hit six straight two-pointers, saving himself from a left-leg attack in the process, to win the bout early in the second period and give India its first gold medal of the tournament. Ravi had already won gold at the 2020 editions in Delhi and Almaty.
