Japanese wrestler Sasamoto Makoto edged out Chinese Sheng Jiang to win the 60kg Greco-Roman wrestling title at the 15th Asian Games in Doha on Saturday.
In a close contest, the 31-years-old Sasamoto rallied from one round down to level it 1-1 before he won the decisive final round with a score of 4-3.
"I'm very happy that I won the gold today. I had a three-point lead and that helped me to win," said Sasamot, who finished third at the Busan Asiad four years ago.
"I am good at rolling and I got more points in that.
"I feel really happy because I had lost in the World Championships in September this year, but now I win back a gold medal," added he.
The Chinese Sheng, who beat Syria's Mostafa Al Nakadli 3-1 to reach the final this morning, took a comfortable 5-0 victory in the first round.
Sasamoto then became more aggressive and rolled Sheng for a two- point back exposure before he leveled it 1-1 with a score of 4-1.
Down 3-0 early in the final round, Sasamoto boosted to give a fatal hit to his rival in the final minutes, clinching it 4-3.
Chinese coach Sheng Zetian felt sorry for the final loss, saying that they missed a best chance in the past 16 years to win a gold in Asia.
"It's really a pity for my athlete, " said Sheng. "He had a very good preparation for the games and competed strikingly these days.
"He even got the chance to win doday's final. If he had won, it would have been the first Asiad gold for China and the first gold we won in 16 years, " said Sheng.
Sheng opened his campaign with a 3-1 victory over Dilshod Aripov of Uzbekistan and repeated the scoreline with a quarter- final victory over India's Ravinder Singh on his way to the final.
Aripov and Tumenbaev Ruslan of Kazakstan shared the bronze medal of the 60kg category after they beating their rivals respectively in two bronze medal matches.