Bajarang Punia a gold medal in the men's freestyle 65 kg category in Commonwealth Games

Bajarang Punia continued India's medal rush at the ongoing 21st Commonwealth Games by claiming a gold medal in the men's freestyle 65 kg category here at Carrara Sports Arena on Friday.

The 24-year-old showcased a superlative performance as he thrashed Wales' Kane Charig by technical superiority in the summit showdown to clinch India's 17th gold medal at the Games in style.

The final match saw Kane failing to notch a single point and Bajrang clinch ten points in a row to finish the bout in less than ten minutes.

Bajrang, who is a World Championship bronze-medallist from 2013, had



earlier bagged a silver medal in the 2014 Glasgow edition of the Games in the 61kg weight category.

Meanwhile, Pooja Dhanda settled for a silver medal after slumping to a 5-7 defeat at the hands of Nigeria's Odunayo Adekuoroye in the finals of the women's 57 kg category.

Divya Kakran, the other wrestler in the fray, added a bronze medal in India's kitty by clinching the medal in women's 68 kg freestyle.

Divya thrashed Sherin Sultana of Bangladesh 4-0 to come out victorious.This pushes India's total medal tally in the Games to 38, including 17 gold, nine silver and 12 bronze medals.