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Grappler Yogeshwar Dutt clinches bronze
Yogeshawar Dutt clinched a bronze medal at the Olympic Games after beating North Korea's Jong Myong Ri 3-1 in the 60kg freestyle play-off for the medal at the ExCel arena in London on Saturday.
The Indian grappler, who narrowly missed the bronze at the Beijing Games, had to fight five bouts in a single day to get on the podium. His lone defeat was against reigning World champion Besik Kudukhov of Russia in the pre-quarters.
However, given a lease of life after the Russian reached the final, Yogeshwar came up with a superlative showing in the repechage rounds to notch three successive victories in less 60 sixty minutes and provide India its fifth medal at the Games and first on the mat.
- London Olympics 2012 - Complete coverage
Grappler Yogeshwar Dutt clinches bronze
It is India's third wrestling medal from the Olympics, after Kashaba Jadhav's bronze in the 1952 Helsinki Games and a similar feat by Sushil Kumar four years ago in Beijing.
The 29-year-old from Sonepat in Haryana showed excellent technique and fighting spirit to pull off three memorable victories on the trot.
In the repechage rounds, in which he had to beat three opponents, Yogeshwar started off with a win over World Championship runner-up Franklin Gomez Matos of Puerto Rico and followed it with another brilliant one over Iran's Masoud Esmaeilpoorjouybari to get within one win from a medal.
Grappler Yogeshwar Dutt clinches bronze
The two victories that came within the space of 20 minutes got Yogeshwar's adrenaline going and he came up with another stupendous come-from-behind victory over his North Korean opponent to snatch the bronze.
In the all-important medal round, Yogeshwar started on the wrong foot, conceding a point to the strong North Korean, who seemed to have the upper hand initially.
However, the tide changed drastically for the Indian in the next period in which he took a point to draw level with Myong Ri and leave the stage set for a dramatic finish.
But, as things turned out, Yogeshwar was at the height of his prowess in the final period which saw him score a staggering six technical points in a jiffy to seal the issue.
Grappler Yogeshwar Dutt clinches bronze
Using all his experience and technique to the fullest, Yogeshwar managed to pull Myong Ri down on the mat, and then rolled him over a few times to lay claim to a well-deserved bronze, which he has been yearning for the past four years.
Yogeshwar earlier fought off the challenges from Matos and Esmaeilpoorjouybari, winning 3-0 and 3-1 respectively, to be in the contention for the bronze medal.
Grappler Yogeshwar Dutt clinches bronze
The Haryana grappler got lucky against Matos, winning the toss on both the occasions to earn a clinch position, which the experienced grappler, in his third Olympics, converted to the best of his capabilities.
With the score line reading 0-0 at the end of the first period, Yogeshwar got into the favourable position and was able to get one technical point, which was enough to gain the initial advantage.