Tough day for Indian wrestlers at Senior Asian Wrestling Championship 2025
Freestyle Wrestling competition at the 2025 Senior Asian Wrestling Championship.
According to a release from the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI), in the 57kg category, Chirag, the 2024 U23 World Champion, faced an early exit after losing his first match to a Kyrgyz wrestler. His hopes of a repechage round were dashed when the Kyrgyz wrestler lost to a Mongolian opponent, eliminating Chirag's chances of a medal.
In the 65kg category, Sujit started strong by winning his opening bout, keeping India's medal hopes alive. However, he lost to a Japanese wrestler in the next round and sustained an injury, forcing him to withdraw from the competition.
Among other participants, Vishal Kaliraman (70kg), Chandermohan (79kg), and Jonty (97kg) also faced defeats in their respective bouts, ending their medal hopes.
Looking ahead, five weight categories remain in the Freestyle Wrestling competition, with Udit (61kg) and Deepak Punia (92kg) expected to be strong medal contenders tomorrow.
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Earlier, wrestlers Manisha Bhanwala (62 kg) and Antim Panghal (53 kg) brought laurels for India as they bagged gold and bronze medals, respectively, in their respective categories at the Asian Wrestling Championships 2025 in Amman, Jordan, on Friday, as per Olympics.com.
Manisha Bhanwala defeated Ok J Kim of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea 8-7 in the final to secure India's first women's freestyle wrestling gold medal at the continental meet since 2021.
Vinesh Phogat and Sarita Mor won their respective categories in the 2021 edition. Manisha began her medal hunt with a win over Kazakhstan's Tynys Dubek via technical superiority.
The Indian wrestler pinned down the Republic of Korea's Hanbit Lee in the quarterfinals