Naveen Kumar, an Indian freestyle wrestler, has bagged gold in the Commonwealth Games 2022 men’s 74kg freestyle wrestling. The 19-year-old Kumar won over Pakistan’s Sharif Tahir in a dominant fashion, their match ending 9-0 in Kumar’s favour. Earlier this year, Kumar also clinched bronze at the Asian Wrestling Championship event held at Ulaanbataar, Mongolia. Ogbonna Nigerian Emmanuel John, whom Kumar defeated in the qualifiers, and Canada’s Jasmit Singh Phulka took home bronze in this division.

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The young Kumar’s technical prowess was also on display in his convincing victory against England’s Charlie Bowling, whom he defeated in three minutes and 12 seconds in their semi-final bout. India’s Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, also took to Twitter to congratulate Kumar on his incredible achievement in his Commonwealth Games debut, saying that Kumar’s “…remarkable confidence and excellent technique have been on full display”:

Notably, the teenager managed to win three rounds in his CWG campaign this season on the grounds of technical superiority. However, he fell just a point short of achieving the same against Tahir. Kumar’s win gave India its sixth gold medal in wrestling at CWG 2022, and its 12th overall. 

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The fact that he will be facing a Pakistani wrestler in the final gave his performance some extra intensity, according to the gold medallist. He went on to say in a post-match interview, “I played with a free mind. When I got to know that I would face Pakistan in the final, I wanted to win India gold. So, I played with high intensity”.

Before Kumar, India’s Sakshi Malik, Deepak Punia, Bajrang Punia,  Vinesh Phogat, and Ravi Kumar Dahiya also won gold in their respective wrestling categories. India has now won a total of 34 gold medals at the 2022 CWG. The Indian hockey team can also bag gold if they manage to defeat Australia on Monday. Notably, India were defeated by Australia in the hockey finals of the 2010 and 2014 editions of the Commonwealth Games.