Praveen Kumar on Wednesday became the first Indian man to win a wushu World Championships gold, beating Russel Diaz of Russel Diaz in the 48kg category here. The Indian saw off his Filipino opponent 2-1 in the men’s sanda event of the 15th World Wushu Championships. Praveen had earlier defeated Uzbekistan’s Khasan Ikromov 2-0 in the semifinal on Tuesday to set up the summit clash with Diaz. In 2017, Pooja Kadian became the first Indian to be crowned world champion in wushu after she defeated Evgeniya Stepanova of Russia in the women’s 75 kg sanda event. Wushu sanda is a martial art which combines full-contact kickboxing, including close range punches and kicks, with wrestling, takedowns, throws, sweeps and kick catches.
