Zhou leads Chinese women’s rich medal haul in Doha

By Sports Reporter/Doha Chinese women wrestlers were in fine form yesterday, scooping four of the five gold medals on offer, on the third day of the Senior Asian Wrestling championship at Aspire.Led by Asian Games champion Zhou Feng, the Chinese toppled their opponents to take a slender lead over Japan in the team championship race.In the 75k category, world No. 2 Zhou was tood good for Elmira Syzdykova of Kazakhstan, cruising to a 11-0 win in the final. Zhou looked very sharp against her younger and talented Syzdykova. The 2014 Asian championship runner-up Zhou improved on last year’s finish after racking up a pair of four-point moves to help her secure the first period technical fall. It was Zhou’s third title in eight months, having won the prestigious Klippan women’s tournament in February, also at 69kg, and the 2014 Asian Games title at 75kg.Zhou’s performance capped an impressive night for the Chinese, which started with Zhong Xue Chun clinching gold at 53kg. Zhong was on the back foot, forced to defend a single leg attack by an aggressive Yong Mi Pak of North Korea before finding a defensive takedown. After the early setback, Zhong, ranked No.3, was able to secure four-straight gut wrenches to win by a 10-0 technical fall. The Asian championship is Zhong’s second title of 2015, having won the Paris Grand Prix in February.In the night’s most exciting bout in the 63kg category, Xiluo Zhuo Ma found a late four-point throw against Kanako Murata of Japan to win dramatically by 4-4. Murata had succeeded for five minutes and 45 seconds in defending against Xilou, but with seconds ticking away the Chinese wrestler was able to convert her throws and earn the gold.The final medal of the night for China came in the 60kg category, where only five competitors were in action in the non-Olympic category. Luo Xiao Juan outscored her opponents 33-10 across four matches, earning one fall and technical fall en route to her title. Japan’s Yoshimi Kayama took silver.Japan averted a complete sweep from China after its grappler Anri Kimura bagged gold in the 55kg. Kimura made quick work of Kum Ok Han of North Korea. The Japanese gave up two point in the first minute, but found the takedown and improvised arm bar to secure the fall midway through the first period. This was Japan’s third gold in women’s wrestling at Aspire. It was a good day for India too, with Sakshi Malik and Lalita winning bronze in 60kg and 55kg categories. However, Babita Kumari lost out on a third-place finish in 53kg division even after leading for most period. Lalita was defeated by North Korea’s Han Kum-ok 3-9 in the semi-final but she managed to settle for a bronze medal in the end in her category. In a total of five rounds in the 60kg category, Sakshi won two of her bouts to claim the third position.

Results:Women’s – 53kgGold:  Xue Chun Zhong (Chn) bt Yong Mi Pak (Prk) By TF, 10-0Bronze: Zhuldyz Eshimova Turtbayeva (Kaz) bt Kumari Babita (Ind), 6-3 Bronze: Nanami Irie (Jpn) bt Lua Nguyen (vie) by fallWomen’s  – 55kgGold: Anri Kimura (Jpn) bt Kum Ok Han (PRK) by fallBronze: Hui Li (Chn) bt Aizhan Ismagulova (Kaz) by tf, 12-1Bronze: Lalita (Ind)Women’s – 63kgGold: Zhuo Ma Xiluo (Chn) bt  Kanako Murata (Jpn), 4-4Bronze: Tsevegmid Enkhbayar (Mgl) bt Anita (Ind) by criteria, 8-8 Bronze:  Yekaterina Larionova (Kaz) bt Jong Gum SIN (PRK), 7-2Women’s – 69kgGold: Feng Zhou (Chn) bt Elmira Syzdykova (Kaz) by tf, 11-0Bronze: Kayoko Kudo (Jpn) bt Tumentsetseg Sharkuu (Mgl), 7-4Bronze: Wen-Ling (Tpe) bt Eunsun Jeong (Kor), 2-0Women’s – 60kgGold: Xiao Juan Luo (Chn)Silver: Yoshimi Kayama (Jpn)Bronze: Sakshi Malik (Ind)