Olympic Wrestling: Yogeshwar Clinches Bronze, Fifth Medal for India


London, Aug 12 (PTI): India's Yogeshawar Dutt clinched a bronze in the Olympic Games after beating North Korea's Jong Myong Ri 3-1 in the 60kg freestyle play-off for the medal at the ExCel arena here today.

Yogeshwar fought back strongly in the repechage rounds to notch up three successive victories in the space of less than an hour to provide India its fifth medal at the London Games and the first on the mat.

The 29-year-old from Sonepat in Haryana, who had missed a medal four years ago at the Beijing Olympics, showed excellent technique and fighting spirit to bring off three memorable wins on the trot for the bronze.

In the repechage rounds, in which he had to beat three opponents, Yogeshwar started off with a win over World Championship runner-up Franklin Gomez Matos of Puerto Rico and followed it with another brilliant victory over Iran's Masoud Esmaeilpoorjouybari to be one win away from a medal.

The two victories that came within the space of 20 minutes got Yogeshwar's adrenaline going and he brought off another stupendous come from behind victory over his North Korean rival to fetch the bronze.

In the all-important medal round, Yogeshwar started on a wrong foot conceding a point to his strong North Korean rival, who seemed to have the upper hand initially.

However, the tide changed drastically in favour of the Indian in the next period in which he took a point to draw level with Myong Ri and leave the stage set for a dramatic finish.
But as things turned out, Yogeshwar was at the height of his prowess in the final period which saw him score a staggering six technical points in a jiffy to seal the issue in his favour.

Using all his experience and technique to the fullest, Yogeshwar managed to pull Myong Ri down on the mat, and then rolled him over a few times to lay claim on the well-deserved bronze, which he has been yearning for the past four years.

Yogeshwar earlier fought off the challenges from Matos and Esmaeilpoorjouybari, winning 3-0 and 3-1 respectively, to be in the contention for the bronze medal.

The Haryana grappler got lucky against Matos, winning the toss on both the occasions to earn a clinch position, which the experienced grappler, in his third Olympics, converted to the best of his capabilities.

With the score line reading 0-0 at the end of the first period, Yogeshwar got into the favourable position and was able to get one technical point, which was enough to gain the initial advantage.

  

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Comment on this article

  • Louis, Kuwait

    Sun, Aug 12 2012

    Best fight 3 wins in 55 min. God bless Yogeshwar, hope Sushil will win gold today.

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  • Shibin, Hongkong

    Sun, Aug 12 2012

    Congrats Yogeshwar.....you are the symbol of India

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  • Ram Shetty, Mangalore/Mumbai

    Sun, Aug 12 2012

    Just imagine, if our Indian Sportman's can win 5 or maybe 6 medal could have won more if a proper training and guidiance would have given to them the way they give to stupid cricket game and to the cricketers. Here is the proof that our sportman can win in all the fields.

    DisAgree [6] Agree [19] Reply Report Abuse

  • Walter Pereira, Mangalore

    Sun, Aug 12 2012

    I saw all of his the bouts live on TV.
    All the matches of Yogeshwar were super charged bouts.
    The way he rolled his opponent on the mat during the final bout was a real delight to watch.
    Keep it up Yogeshwar.

    DisAgree [1] Agree [12] Reply Report Abuse

  • Jaison Dsilva, Belman

    Sun, Aug 12 2012

    Great news to us INDIAN!!!

    DisAgree Agree [12] Reply Report Abuse

  • Rakesh shetty, mangalore

    Sun, Aug 12 2012


    CONGRATS YOGESHWAR. JAI HO INDIA.

    DisAgree Agree [13] Reply Report Abuse

  • Ram Shetty, Mangalore/Mumbai

    Sun, Aug 12 2012

    Congratulation Yogeshwar Dutt you were real good against the North Korean.

    DisAgree Agree [10] Reply Report Abuse


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Title: Olympic Wrestling: Yogeshwar Clinches Bronze, Fifth Medal for India



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