Sakshi Malik erased her curse of no golds at the Commonwealth Games on Friday as she won her first in three attempts with a commanding win over Canada's Ana Godinez Gonzalez. This is Sakshi's third medal at the Commonwealth Games - she had won silver in 2014 [58kg] and bronze at the 2018 [62kg] Games.
Sakshi, who is the first Indian female wrestler to medal at the Olympics [she won bronze in 2016], went in for a takedown mid-way through the opening period but Gonzales made a swift transition from defence to attack to inflict a counter and snap up a 2-0 lead.
Gonzalez extended her lead a minute later as she executed a single leg takedown to double her lead.
The interval did a world of good for Sakshi as he came out all guns blazing in the second period. She scored a takedown to make it 2-4, then held on to initiate another takedown and maintained her vice-like grip to pin her opponent. Sakshi skipped around the mat in joy, celebrating her career's third gold medal.
Earlier, Sakshi Malik began her CWG campaign with a quarterfinal bout against Kelsey Barnes of England, winning it in just 69 seconds by VFA (Victory by fall).
She followed that up with a comfortable win in the semifinal, defeating Berthe Emilienne Etane Ngolle of Cameroon by technical superiority, scoring a spate of points within 62 seconds to progress to the final and confirm her medal.