Three of the five Greco-Roman wrestlers competing in the Asian Wrestling Championships, including Sunil Kumar, earned bronze medals on a great opening day for India.
Sunil has now secured a podium finish at the Asian Championships for the second time, having won the 87 kg gold in 2020 and silver in 2019. In his bronze medal match against Mongolia’s Batbayar Lutbayar, the 23-year-old sprinted out to a 5-0 lead early on and prevailed 9-1 by technical superiority. This was after he lost the semifinal to Jalgasbay Berdimuratov of Uzbekistan due to technical superiority. He had begun his campaign with a 5-3 victory over Masato Sumi of Japan.
In the meanwhile, Neeraj won a bronze medal for India at 63kg, leaping out to a seven-point lead before hanging on for a 7-4 victory over Uzbekistan’s Islomjon Bakhramov, the 2019 winner at 60 kg and a three-time Asian medallist. He advanced to the play-offs after losing in the quarterfinals against eventual winner Tynar Sharshenbekov of Kyrgyzstan.
After losing his quarterfinal against Kazakhstan’s Amangali Bekbolatov, Arjun Halakurki defeated Mongolia’s Davaabandi Munkh Erdene 10-7 in the bronze play-off. Davaabandi pushed him on his back late in the bout, but he had built up enough of a lead to cling on for the win, which included five stepouts. Arjun also took home a bronze medal at the 2020 edition of the competition.
However, in the 77 kg division, Sajan Bhanwal was beaten by Japan’s Kodai Sakuraba, who eventually took bronze. Prem Kumar pulled out after losing 0-5 against Iran’s Amir Mohammadali Ghasemimonjazi in his first 130 kg qualifying battle.