GOLD COAST: Indian wrestler Bajrang Punia won gold in the men's 65 kilogram freestyle category while compatriot Mausam Khatri took the 97kg silver at the 21st Commonwealth Games (CWG) here on Friday.
Bajrang needed only around two minutes to overpower Kane Charig of Wales by technical superiority in the final.
The Indian came up with a series of awe inspiring performances over the course of his campaign to win all his bouts by technical superiority and win his first major international tournament in style.
Bouts are awarded on the basis of technical superiority when a wrestler takes a lead of 10 or more points.
Later, Khatri had to be satisfied with silver in his division. Khatri lost to reigning African champion Martin Erasmus of South Africa by technical superiority in the 97kg freestyle final.
Khatri was trailing 2-12 when the officials awarded the bout to the South African.
Bajrang however, was in a class of his own in the 65kg section. He had started his campaign with a power-packed display against Brahm Richards of New Zealand.
The Indian needed only a couple of minutes to beat Richands by technical superiority.
Bajrang executed a couple of two-point moves to go 4-0 up within the first 30 seconds. He then pulled off a gut wrench to flip his opponent over which earned him another four points.
Bajrang almost pulled off a pin but the Kiwi survived somehow with some desperate defending. But another two-point move by the Indian finished off the contest.
In the quarter-finals, Bajrang outclassed Amas Daniel of Nigeria, building up a 10-0 lead early in the second round.
The domination contiuned in the semi-finals where Bajrang pulled off a series of two-point moves against Vincent De Marinis of Canada to take an 8-0 lead in the first round.
Another takedown just after the break earned him the win and a place in the final.
Khatri also dominated his division, starting his campaign with a technical superiority win over Alexios Kaouslidis of Cyprus.
Khatri was too good for his opponent, scoring three four-point moves to wrap up the issue in less than a minute.
He faced a more difficult task in the semi-finals, needing two full rounds to take a 10-7 victory against Soso Tamarau of Nigeria.