Ranjith impresses on day one

By Our Sports Reporter

KOZHIKODE, MAY 12. Not long ago in the villages of Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and a few other Nothern States there had to be at least one `fauji' (soldier) and `pehalwan' (wreslter) in every family. Times may have changed, but the passion for `gusti' (wrestling) still remains strong in the North, say the grapplers and their coaches from the Norther India teams.

Not surprisingly, the grapplers from the north of the Vindhyas dominated the proceedings on the opening day of the 35th National Indian style wrestling championship here on Friday. However, at least two grapplers from the south made their mark in the opening round, as the Nationals came to the South for the first time.

One of them in particular received big applause from what was not a bad crowd - given the event's low-key publicity. R.Ranjith of Kerala indeed deserved those loud cheers, because he did well to overpower a taller and more formidable looking Jagbir from Chandigarh in the 63 kg bout. The other South Indian to prevail on day one was S.Gowda of Karnataka, who knocked out Bijendar Singh of Haryana.

Among the winners in ther first round include Om Prakash of CISF, Joginder of Delhi and Kuldip Vasan of Himachal Pradesh in the 54 kg class, Dhanjit Shivaley of Maharashtra, Richpal of Chandrigarh and Shashikant of Haryana in the 58 kg, Jitendar of CISF, Vinod Kumar of Bihar and Suresh of Delhi in the 63 kg, Vijesh of Haryana, Bharat Bhushan of Uttar Pradesh and Rajesh of BSF in the 69 kg and Pawan Kumar of CISF and Pardip of Bihar in the 76 kg.

Ranith asserted his supremacy in his bout against Jagbir by making good use of the two passivity calls that went against former. By the end of the third minute itself, Ranjith had taken a three-point lead. A desperate attempt by Jagbir in the last minute to pin his rival to the floor failed and Ranjith brought to him to the ground after five minutes and 20 seconds, locking his shoulder.

One of the easiest wins of the day was registered by Bihar's Pardip in the 76 kg category, as his front saltu proved too good for N.M. Baydar of Karnataka.

The results (first round):

54 kg: S.Gowda (Kar) bt Bijendar Singh (Har) by fall (2:50); Om Prakash (CISF) bt Manjeet Singh (Chd) by fall (2:40); Joginder (Del) bt Subhash (UP) by fall (1:55); Kuldip Vasan (HP) bt Anil Vasan (Ker) bf fall (1:55).

58 kg: Dhanjit Shivaley (Mah) bt Rudda Gowda (Kar) by fall (1:00); Richpal (Chd) bt Vikram (Del) on points; Jagbir (Raj) bt Parvinder (BSF) w/o Arun Kumar (Bih); Shashikant (Har) bt J. Jobinson (Ker) by fall (3:00).

63 kg: Jitendar (CISF) bt Surinder (Rly) by fall (0:15); R.Ranjith (Ker) bt Jagbir (Chd) by fall (5:20); Vinod Kumar (Bih) bt Parminder (J & K) by fall (4:00); Dhiraj (Mah) bt Vishnu P. Patil (Kar) by fall (2:00); Suresh (Del) bt Pappu (UP) on points; Ravinder Kumar (Raj) bt Sudesh (MP) by fall (1:15).

69 kg: Vijesh (Har) bt Raj Kumar (HP) by fall (0:40); Rajesh (BSF) bt T.H. Faizal (Ker) by fall (0:45); Hanuman (Rly) w/o Sanjay (Mah); Bharat Bhushan (UP) bt Mohan Singh (Raj) on points; Rajesh (MP) w/o Hardayal (Chd).

76 kg: Pardip (Bih) bt N.M.Baydar (Kart) by fall (0:15); Pawan Kumar (CISF) bt Devendar (Har) on points.

Kerala's R.Ranjith (left) and Chandigarh's Jagbir during a first round bout in the National Indian style wrestling championship at Kozhikode on Friday.

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