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India made an impressive start to its Greco-Roman campaign at the U23 Asian Championships by securing five medals on the opening day of the competition at the Tien Son Sport Centre in Da Nang, Vietnam, on Saturday.
Suraj Singh and Sagar Singh led the charge with silver medals, while Kumar Sachin, Rohit and Hardeep added to the tally with bronze medals in their respective weight categories, according to a release. Suraj Singh impressed in the 60kg category with a solid run to the final before going down 0-4 against Kazakhstan's Aibek Aitbekov in the gold medal bout to finish with silver. In the 67kg category, Sagar Singh also produced a commendable performance throughout the tournament. However, he suffered a 0-9 defeat by technical superiority against Uzbekistan's Aytjan Khalmakhanov in the final and settled for the silver medal. Kumar Sachin added a bronze medal in the 77kg category despite going down 3-10 against Kazakhstan's Alikhan Dursunov, while Rohit narrowly missed out after suffering a hard-fought 3-5 defeat against Uzbekistan's Bekhruz Barnoev in the 97kg division. Hardeep also fell short in the 130kg bout, going down 0-4 against Kazakhstan's Jokhar Uzarov. Vinit (72kg) and Amit Gope (82kg) bowed out after suffering defeats by technical superiority against their respective opponents, with Vinit going down 6-9 against Uzbekistan's Shakhzod Kuchkorov and Amit losing 0-10 to Tajikistan's Muhammad Sultanzoda. "It is an encouraging performance by our Greco-Roman wrestlers to finish the opening day with five medals. The wrestlers showed great determination and discipline on the mat, and this performance reflects the steady progress Indian Greco-Roman wrestling has been making at the continental level. I congratulate all the medal winners and wish the remaining wrestlers the very best for the upcoming bouts," said Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) President Sanjay Singh. India had won three medals in the U23 Greco-Roman category at the previous edition of the U23 and U17 Asian Wrestling Championships held in Vietnam, including a gold medal by Sumit (63kg) and bronze medals by Ankit Gulia (72kg) and Nitesh (97kg). The country had also secured five medals in Greco-Roman wrestling at the 2026 Asian Wrestling Championships in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, last month, marking India's best performance in the category at the continental senior event in the last five years. On Sunday, India's Greco-Roman campaign will continue with Neeraj taking the mat in the 55kg category qualification bout while Sumit (63kg) and Rohit Bura (87kg) will also be in action, aiming for podium finishes. (ANI)
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