At the 2024 Asian Wrestling Championships in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, Indian grapplers clinched nine medals: four golds and five silvers, on Tuesday.
Follow Us
At the Asian Wrestling Championships 2024, held in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, the Indian wrestling squad concluded their campaign with a commendable haul of nine medals, comprising both silver and bronze categories. The 30-member team, evenly distributed across men’s freestyle, men’s Greco-Roman, and women’s freestyle events, participated in the competition spanning six days.
During the men’s freestyle segment, Udit, the U20 Asian titlist at the age of 19, secured a silver medal in the 57kg class. Compatriots Abhimanyu and Vicky procured bronze medals in the 70kg and 97kg categories, respectively, on the first day of the championship. In the women’s division, 23-year-old Radhika clinched a silver medal in the 68kg weight class, whereas Shivanee Pawar earned a bronze medal in the 50kg category on Saturday.
The subsequent day witnessed Anju and Harshita capturing silver medals in the 53kg and 72kg divisions, with Manisha (62kg) and Antim (65kg) both taking home bronze. Nevertheless, prominent contender Sarita Mor, who previously attained a bronze at the World Championships and has been a two-time Asian champion, didn’t succeed past the quarterfinals in the women’s 57kg.
This performance comes in contrast to the previous Asian Wrestling Championships in Amman, where Indian wrestlers amassed 14 medals, including a solitary gold. Aman Sehrawat had then achieved the sole gold in the men’s 57kg category.
Many foremost Indian wrestlers opted out of this year’s Championships, turning their focus towards the Asian Olympic Wrestling Qualifiers slated to begin on April 19 at the same venue. To date, India’s Antim Panghal is the solitary wrestler to have secured a quota place for the Paris 2024 Olympics, following her bronze medal victory in the women’s 53kg at the 2023 World Championships.
At the Asian Wrestling Championships, 2024 held in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, young Indian wrestler Radhika clinched a silver medal in the women’s 68kg division on Saturday, and her compatriot Shivanee Pawar added to the tally with a bronze in the 50kg class during the third day of events. However, Indian athletes Pushpa Yadav and Priya didn’t manage to secure medals in their respective 59kg and 76kg bronze medal clashes.
On her path to the final, 23-year-old Radhika outclassed Kazakhstan’s Albina Kairgeldinova with a score of 12-2 in the quarter-finals and triumphed 2-0 over Kyrgyzstan’s Gulnura Tashtanbekova in the semis. The gold match saw her face world champion Nonoka Ozaki from Japan, where Radhika took second place after a 15-2 bout. Shivanee Pawar started her day victoriously against Cambodia’s Samnang Dit, winning 8-6 in the 50kg qualifiers, before falling 4-0 to China’s Ziqi Feng.
Yet, she bounced back brilliantly in the bronze medal match, defeating Mongolia’s much-decorated Dolgorjavyn Otgonjargal with a score of 9-7. Meanwhile, Pushpa Yadav’s and Priya’s hopes for bronze were dashed as they were bested by Kazakhstan’s Diana Kayumova and Elmira Syzdykova. In another qualifying round, Tamanna faced a tough opponent against Japan’s Moe Kiyooka, losing 9-0 in the 55kg category.
Read More-