XI'AN, April 27 (Xinhua) -- National champion Tuoerbatu grabbed the only gold medal for China at the Asian Wrestling Championships here on Saturday, beating world No. 2 Elmurat Tasmuradov of Uzbekistan 4-3 in the Greco-Roman 63kg category.
From 2-0 down, Tuoerbatu had two points to level the score before the defending champion Tasmuradov pushed Tuoerbatu to the protection area to regain the upper hand.
Yet, the Rio Olympic bronze medalist suffered a sudden injury and surrendered the match, awarding Tuoerbatu his first-ever gold medal of international competitions.
"Tasmuradov had the edge over me, but I'm trying to beat him during these years," Tuoerbatu said. "I'd like to express my regrets to his injury. Sports can be cruel sometimes."
With the win, the 3rd-ranked Tuoerbatu was full of confidence, and said that he could win over a healthy Tasmuradov.
Earlier during the noon session, Chinese Zhou Yunqiang in 55kg, Zhang Ridong in 77kg and Meng Lingzhe in 130kg, were all eliminated in their first matches, while Peng Fei in 87kg were beaten twice in the qualification and the repechage.
Iran got two golds through Hossein Nouri in 87kg and Amir Mohammadali Ghasemimonjezi in 130kg, South Korean Kim Hyeo-woo won the 77kg event and Llkhom Bakhromov of Uzbekistan took the 55kg crown.
The championships continues on Sunday with five more Greco-Roman categories.
