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It proved to be a luckless day for the Indian wrestling contingent on Saturday as no wrestler managed to qualify for a medal bout in the 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. 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 before accounting for Kyrgyzstan's Kalmira Bilimbek Kyzy, the defending champion, in the quarterfinals by a 5-1 scoreline. Manisha, who had won three consecutive bronze medals at the Asian Championships from 2022 to 2024, seemed destined for a silver this time around as she was trailing 2-7 against Ok J Kim. However, she upgraded herself to gold at the 11th hour after turning the tables in spectacular fashion. Meanwhile, Antim Panghal marked her return to international competition since the Paris 2024 Olympics with a bronze in the 53kg division. Antim Panghal started her campaign with a 10-6 victory over World Championships silver medallist Jin Zhang of the People's Republic of China but lost to 55kg world champion Moe Kiyooka of Japan via technical superiority in the semi-finals. Antim Panghal then defeated Chinese Taipei's Meng Hsuan Hsieh via technical superiority to secure her bronze. The two medals on Friday increased India's tally at the ongoing championships to seven--one gold, one silver, and five bronze. Reigning U23 world champion Reetika Hooda won a silver medal in the women's freestyle 76kg division on Thursday. Muskan (women's 59kg), Mansi Lather (women's 68kg) and Greco-Roman wrestlers Nitesh (97kg) and Sunil Kumar (87kg) had won bronze medals earlier in the competition. The remaining three Indian wrestlers - Neha Sharma (57kg), Monika (65kg) and Jyoti Berwal (72kg) - in action on the day returned empty-handed. (ANI)
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