In the men's freestyle wrestling competition, Udit, the Asian U20 champion, bagged a silver medal in the 57 kg category.His compatriots, Abhimanyu in the 70 kg category and Vicky in the 97 kg category, both won bronze medals on the first day of the championships.
The women struggle the team also presented strong performances. Radhika, 23, won a silver medal in the 68 kg category, while Shivanee Pawar won a bronze medal in the 50 kg category. Anju and Harshita added silver medals to the tally in the 53kg and 72kg categories respectively. Additionally, Manisha (62 kg) and Antim Panghal (65 kg) won bronze medals each.
However, Anju faced a tough challenge in the final, losing 10-0 to Ji Hyang Kim of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, and Harshita was defeated 5-2 by the Chinese. Qian Jiang in the fight for the gold medal, both settling for silver.
Notably, Sarita Mor, bronze medalist at the World Championships and double Asian champion, was eliminated in the quarter-finals of the women's 57 kg category, without managing to increase the number of medals.
In comparison, at the previous Asian Championships in Amman, Indian wrestlers won 14 medals, including a gold. Currently, India has secured a one-time Olympic quota for Paris 2024, thanks to Antim Panghal's bronze medal at the 2023 World Championships in the women's 53kg category.
(ANI entry)