Asian Wrestling Championships 2026: Silver for Lalit, bronze for Sunil Kumar

New Delhi [India], April 7 : Former U-23 Asian Championships bronze medallist Lalit bagged India's first medal of the 2026 Senior Asian Wrestling Championships in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, on Tuesday with a silver medal in the 55kg Greco-Roman category, while Nitesh reached the final of the 97kg Greco-Roman category.

Former champion Sunil Kumar added another bronze medal to his trophy cabinet to make it a fruitful day for the Indian contingent. Lalit, who had knocked off China's Huoying Shi in the semi-finals, put up a strong resistance against Ikhtiyor Botirov of Uzbekistan in the final but could not avoid a 0-9 loss, as per a press release.

In the 87kg bronze medal match, Sunil Kumar fought back after conceding four points in the first round to beat Uzbekistan's Mukhammadkodir Rasulov 5-4 to win his second consecutive bronze medal in the Asian Championships. Earlier, Nitesh ensured that he would improve on his 2025 Asian Championships performance after securing a final spot in the 97kg Greco-Roman category.

The 23-year-old, who had bagged the bronze medal last year, defeated Zegang Wang of China 7-2 in the semi-finals to set up a gold medal clash against defending champion Mohammadhadi Saravi of Iran. In the semi-final, Nitesh made the most of the par Terre (ground position) for passivity given to the Chinese in the first round by scoring six points, which included a four-point throw. He then defended astutely in the second round to win easily.

India will also have a shot at the bronze medal in the 82kg Greco-Roman category with Prince, taking on Didar Ammanazarov of Turkmenistan. The 20-year-old went down 10-0 against Iran's Mohammadamin Hosseini in the semi-finals. However, there was heartbreak for Aman in the 77kg Greco-Roman bronze medal match as he went down 14-15 against South Korea's Yeonghun Noh. Aman fought back from a 7-12 deficit at the end of the first round but fell short by a point.

Sachin Sahrawat (67kg GR) will also have a shot at the bronze medal after he managed to get in the Repechage round and will face China's Ji Leng on Wednesday.

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