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Indian wrestlers Antim Panghal and Manisha Bhanwala advanced to the quarterfinals while Deepak Punia progressed to the semifinals at the Asian Games 2026 on Saturday, continuing India's strong run in the wrestling competition.
Antim made a dominant start to her women's 53kg campaign, defeating Kazakhstan's Shugyla Omirbek 9-0 in the pre-quarterfinals to book her place in the last eight. Manisha also produced a commanding performance in the women's 57kg category, defeating South Korea's Kwon Youngjin 8-0 by fall in her pre-quarterfinal bout. She will face Japan's Akari Fujinami in the quarterfinals. Deepak, competing in the men's freestyle 97kg category, initially defeated China's Zhou Junpeng 10-2 by technical superiority in the pre-quarterfinals. He led 6-2 after the opening period before completing the victory with a 6-0 second period. The Indian then advanced to the semifinals after his scheduled quarterfinal opponent, Hong Kong China's Li Vincent, forfeited the bout. Sagar Jaglan also moved into the quarterfinals of the men's freestyle 74kg category after defeating Mongolia's Tulga Tumur-Ochir 8-1 in the pre-quarterfinals. In other action, India's women's rugby sevens team defeated Singapore 22-5 in their first classification match and will face Kazakhstan in their next 5th-8th place encounter. India's campaign in taekwondo ended without a win as Kashish Malik and Jyoti Yadav suffered opening-round defeats. Kashish lost 0-2 to reigning Olympic champion Kim Yujin of South Korea in the women's 57kg round of 16, while Jyoti went down 0-2 to Thailand's Kannaluck Chuenchooklin in the women's 67kg round of 16. Earlier in the day, 17-year-old Kumkum Mohod scripted history by winning gold in the women's individual recurve archery event. She defeated South Korea's Oh Yejin in a shoot-off after the final was tied 5-5. Golf also remained a medal prospect for India, with Pranavi Urs returning to the lead in the women's individual stroke play. She moved to 15-under after a birdie on the 13th hole and held a one-stroke advantage over China's Yin Ruoning with five holes remaining. India's medal tally has reached 77, including 17 gold, 25 silver and 35 bronze medals, at the time of writing. (ANI)
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