Sangram Singh takes Kevin Radford in stride

Professional wrestler Sangram Singh’s much awaited return to the mat lived up to its billing as he overcame America’s Kevin Radford in a hard-fought battle here at the Talkatora Stadium on Friday night.

Sangram had to dig deep into his experience to snatch the championship belt from a battling Radford in the first KD Jadhav Memorial international wrestling championship.

“It was a really tough fight,” Sangram said after his victory. “I had to use all my experience to beat this fine wrestler from the US,” he added.

Radford rose to the occasion as he promised, taking the first round with his speed and reflexes. It, however, got the best out of Sangram and he fought strongly to come back and take the second round. He also did it emphatically enough to take a three-point lead (12-9) after the first two rounds. The third-round saw Sangram overpowering his American counterpart 16-11 which reflected his growing dominance in the ring. 

Redford launched a strong comeback in the next round, narrowing down the margin. 

Both champions fought tooth and nail but, Sangram, egged on by a vociferous home crowd, made the most of his 24-20 lead going into the last round to seal the bout in his favour.

Earlier in the first bout of the night, Shepal Yadav registered an emphatic 15-0 win over compatriot Sachin Attri. 

The second bout was a display of agility but ended in similar fashion as Sanjay Deswal withdrew in the fourth round with a rib injury and Pratik Bhakt emerged winner.

Student Olympic gold medalist, Labhanshu Rishikesh took on the diminutive Om Prakash but couldn’t make use of his hefty figure to eventually lose 3-18. 

The fourth bout which featured Ekta and Akanksha, saw the latter finish it off in the first round itself. The attacking Akanksha had the upper hand from the initial stages of the game and sent her opponent packing with an immaculate move to take the gold medal.