India won two medals in Greco Roman wrestling at the ongoing U23 Wrestling World Championships in Pontevedra, Spain after Vikas and Nitesh won bronze medals in the 72kg and 97kg event respectively on Wednesday.
The twin medals come a day after Sajan Bhanwala became the first Indian Greco Roman wrestler to win a medal at the U23 Wrestling World Championships.
In the 72kg event, Vikas breezed into the semifinals with two technical superiority wins but lost to eventual silver medallist Pavel Puklavec. In the bronze medal match against 21-year-old Daigo Kobayashi of Japan, Vikas secured the win via points.
Nitesh lost via technical superiority to eventual gold medallist Alex Szoke in the 97kg quarterfinal. The Indian then beat Serbian Luka Katic 13-4 in the repechage second round to set up a bronze medal match against 2018 Youth Olympic champion Igo De Queiroz of Brazil.
Nitesh notched a win via technical superiority to clinch India’s third medal at the event.
In women’s wrestling, India secured a medal after Ankush reached the final in the 50kg event. However, she faces a tough fight for gold medal against Tokyo Olympics gold medallist and three-time senior World Champion Yui Susaki.
In the 59kg event, Mansi Ahlawat is in bronze medal contention through the repechage. The reigning U23 Asian champion lost 3-2 to Poland’s Magdalena Glodek in the quarterfinal. With the Pole reaching the final, Mansi will take on Sweden’s Evalina Hulthen for a place in the bronze medal match against Latvia’s Ramina Mamedova.
