- Indian wrestlers Rahul Aware, Sushil Kumar and Babita Kumari have reached the final of 57 kg, 74 kg and 53 kg categories respectively.
- The finals begin at 12:30 pm IST.
- Follow live updates from the finals here and catch live action on Sony Ten.
Indian wrestlers Rahul Aware, Sushil Kumar and Babita Kumari entered the final of their respective categories in the freestyle competition at the 21st Commonwealth Games (CWG) in Gold Coast on Thursday.
Aware, appearing in his first CWG in the men's 57 kg category, did well to qualify for the summit clash in style.
He did face some trouble from a spirited Muhammed Bilal of Pakistan in the semi-finals before taking a thrilling 10-8 victory. He will meet Steven Takahashi of Canada in the final. The Canadian defeated Ebikewenimo Welson of Nigeria in the other semi-final.
In the men's 74 kg freestyle category, Sushil overpowered Jevon Balfour of Canada by technical superiority to enter the quarter-finals.
Another technical superiority verdict over Muhammad Asad Butt of Pakistan propelled him into the semi-finals where he overpowered Australia's Connor Evans by fall in the very first round.
Aware's semi-final was a thrilling contest as Bilal came up with a spirited performance. The Pakistani attacked right from the start but the Indian pulled off an effective counter-attack to take a 3-0 lead. Bilal continued to attack and managed a takedown which earned him two points.
Bilal displayed some excellent counter wrestling techniques to draw level at 4-4 early in the second round. But the jubilation in the Pakistan camp did not last long as Aware pulled off a takedown before managing an ankle hold and to roll Bilal over several times for a 10-4 lead. Bilal continued to fight and reduced the gap by two points with a single leg hold.
Aware bolstered his lead with another two-point move and although Bilal managed to score yet again in the final seconds, it was not enough.
Earlier, Aware started his campaign in comprehensive fashion, overpowering George Ramm of England and Australia's Thomas Cichhini by technical superiority.
In the round of 16, Aware powered his way to an 11-0 lead over the English wrestler early in the second round which prompted the judges to award him the bout.
Aware took a 1-0 lead early in the opening period before a takedown earned him another two points towards the end of the round.
The Indian managed an ankle hold on his opponent right at the start of the second round. He then applied the 'fitley' move to roll Ramm over several times and rack up the winning points.
The Indian was even more impressive in the quarter-finals, outclassing Cichhini in the first round.
He brought down the Australian and turned him over for a 4-0 lead in the first minute. He continued to dominate proceedings to notch up a one-sided victory.
Babita Kumari entered the final of the women's 53 kg wrestling competition. The two-time Commonwealth Games medallist started off by defeating Bose Samuel of Nigeria in her opening bout. Babita shook off a strong start by the Nigerian to clinch a 3-1 win.
Samuel had taken the early lead but Babita pulled off a two-point move to put her nose ahead. She earned another point with a take down to bolster her lead.
Babita was even more dominant in her next bout, defeating Sri Lanka's Deepika Dilhani by fall early in the first period.
The Haryana wrestler was too god for Carissa Holland of Australia as well, clinching another victory by fall to enter the final.
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)